Upper-Limb Rehabilitation in Chronic Stroke Using Brain-Computer Interface Based on Motor Imagery plus Non-Invasive Brain and Muscular Stimulation

This work presents the application of an upper-limb rehabilitation protocol in chronique stroke using a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) based on Motor Imagery (MI), Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation (NIBS) like transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS), and Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES). This protocol uses the concept of Alternating Treatment Design (ATD), in which a chronic post-stroke subject is submitted to these techniques for recovery of his upper-limb movements affected by the stroke. The rehabilitation progress was verified through metrics, such as Fugl Meyer Assessment Scale (FMS), Functional Independence Measure (FIM), Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS), surface Electromyography (sEMG) and Electroencephalography (EEG). Results from these metrics include a 2.4% increase in FMS and an 11% increase in the muscle contraction of his finger extensors, evaluated by sEMG. For the EEG analysis, there was an energy increase in mu and beta rhythms at the end of protocol.