NeuroTrust - Trusted Smart BCI Systems for neurorehabilitation after stroke

The purpose of NeuroTrust is to improve motor recovery for chronic stroke patients with severe motor impairments. Stroke affects around 25 000 people in Sweden each year.  When affecting the primary motor cortex and/or related white matter pathways, it often causes persistent motor impairments that last throughout life. We aim to develop a trusted smart neurorehabilitation system, based on Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technology, that acts on the motor circuits of the brain by enabling a closed-loop neural learning environment.

This highly ambitious project comprises three synergistic and mutually independent aims to: 1) identify neural mechanisms of which the neurorehabilitation system can affect motor recovery, 2) optimize neural learning using real-time adaptive artificial intelligence, and 3) develop personalized BCI strategies for guiding functional cortical reorganization to maximize motor recovery after stroke. Through these aims, NeuroTrust will tackle the outstanding challenge in BCI research on how to produce robust and reliable outcomes in terms of behavioral and associated cortical activity changes.

The results are expected to pioneer research on personalized BCIs and lay the ground for the development of trusted BCI systems that can reliably improve motor recovery after stroke by guiding functional reorganization. Furthermore, the outcomes are expected to directly benefit stroke patients by the development of a clinical prototype system for physical rehabilitation that can be introduced into and combined with current stroke rehabilitation programs. The framework developed in NeuroTrust will provide a rich basis of knowledge for further adaption of the neurorehabilitation technology into a clinical setting. The research preceding NeuroTrust started with a pilot study in 2019 that is showcasing highly promising outcomes. Preliminary results from our pilot study demonstrate the potential for developing ground-breaking strategies for personalized BCI stroke rehabilitation.

NeuroTrust strongly collaborates with clinical researchers from Danderyd Hospital, Karolinska Institute and University Hospital, and possesses a unique set of skills from extensive experience with stroke patients, of motor rehabilitation, BCI technology and intelligent signal analysis