Brain Computer Interface driven rehabilitation of upper limb weakness of stroke survivors - (NeuRestore)

Stroke is the leading cause of acquired disability in adults, and as such occupies a special place amongst the different types of brain injuries. Problems with arm function (upper limb impairments) are very common after a stroke. Existing advanced neurorehabilitation techniques (physiotherapy being comparatively limited and subjective) share a range of limitations including limited understanding of the underlying mechanisms. The NHS spends 4-6% of overall budget on stroke rehabilitation. Upper limb "circulatory" disorders account for 9% of primary care consultations and present a 55-90% admission rate to hospitals.

The **NeuRestore** project proposes to significantly address these limitations by exploring a unique non-invasive brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) approach to exploit electroencephalogram (EEG) patterns to trigger feedback or an action output from an exoskeleton. **NeuRestore** achieves this at a cost of £98k/licenced unit/year (just under the average salary of 2x NHS Advanced-Physiotherapist), while crucially reducing physio waiting times (and resources can be spent elsewhere).