Rehab Technologies for Medical Professionals and Patients
Imagine being able to think, hear, and feel – but not to move or communicate. The exhibition Bugfix the Brain focuses on patients who suffer from motor disabilities due to stroke or disorders of consciousness and shows state-of-the-art rehabilitation and assessment tools based on Brain-Computer Interfaces. Neurologists, physical therapists, caregivers and patients are welcome to test these brain rehabilitation technologies on themselves.
recoveriX is the first rehabilitation system for stroke patients that pairs mental activities with motor functions. For example, if a stroke patient imagines a hand movement, the BCI system gives a visual feedback through Virtual Reality and feedback through muscle stimulation at the same time. This fosters brain plasticity and patients learn to move hands again.
mindBEAGLE is a pioneering method that can be used with patients who are living with coma, unresponsive wakefulness syndrome, minimal consciousness or locked-in syndrome. mindBEAGLE uses auditory and vibrotactile stimulation to assess whether a patient is conscious. If patients are able to perceive stimuli given by the mindBEAGLE system, they might be able to communicate and answer Yes/No questions!
The Unicorn-Speller is an affordable Brain-Computer Interface that allows patients to write words and sentences just by thinking. This is an important tool for completely paralyzed people to establish communication.
