title: A novel BCI-controlled pneumatic glove system for home-based neurorehabilitation.
abstract: Commercially available devices for Brain-Computer Interface (BCI)-controlled robotic stroke rehabilitation are prohibitively expensive for many researchers who are interested in the topic and physicians who would utilize such a device. Additionally, they are cumbersome and require a technician to operate, increasing the inaccessibility of such devices for home-based robotic stroke rehabilitation therapy. Presented here is the design, implementation and test of an inexpensive, portable and adaptable BCI-controlled hand therapy device. The system utilizes a soft, flexible, pneumatic glove which can be used to deflect the subject's wrist and fingers. Operation is provided by a custom-designed pneumatic circuit. Air flow is controlled by an embedded system, which receives serial port instruction from a PC running real-time BCI software. System tests demonstrate that glove control can be successfully driven by a real-time BCI. A system such as the one described here may be used to explore closed loop neurofeedback rehabilitation in stroke relatively inexpensively and potentially in home environments.
authors.forename: Aodhán L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Coffey
authors.forename: Darren J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Leamy
authors.forename: Tomás E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Ward
mesh_terms: D062207:Brain-Computer Interfaces; D003020:Clothing; D004867:Equipment Design; D056228:Feedback, Sensory; D006225:Hand / Q000294:innervation / Q000502:physiology*; D006699:Home Care Services; D006801:Humans; D012046:Rehabilitation / Q000191:economics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012371:Robotics; D012984:Software; D000071939:Stroke Rehabilitation