None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Rehabilitation is crucial for recovering motor functions after injuries like spinal cord injury (SCI) or stroke. Traditional methods often require a lot of manual effort from therapists, making them time-consuming and less effective for patients with limited or no motor control. Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) offer a promising alternative by converting brain signals into commands that assist devices, enabling automated therapy without constant manual input. Our study focuses on training individuals, especially those new to BCIs, to use their imagination to control these systems in a virtual reality (VR) environment. This approach could make rehabilitation more efficient, engaging, and accessible for people with severe motor impairments.
Interventions
Virtual reality brain-computer interface (VR-BCI) Training
Seven healthy, right-handed volunteers (2 females, aged 24-40) participated in this study. None had any medical conditions like pregnancy, claustrophobia, drug addiction, or neurological diseases that could interfere with the tasks. Each person completed 15 training sessions, held on different days, with no more than three sessions per week.
All sessions were administered by one of the researcher from the team. All participants received
Virtual reality brain-computer interface (VR-BCI) Training Seven healthy, right-handed volunteers (2 females, aged 24-40) participated in this study. None had any medical conditions like pregnancy, claustrophobia, drug addiction, or neurological diseases that could interfere with the tasks. Each person completed 15 training sessions, held on different days, with no more than three sessions per week. All sessions were administered by one of the researcher from the team. All participants received exactly the same tasks throughout the intervention. The study followed ethical guidelines, was approved by Griffith University’s research ethics board, and all participants gave written consent before joining. During each session, participants sat comfortably while wearing an electroencephalogram (EEG) headset to measure brain activity and a virtual reality (VR) headset for the tasks. They practiced two types of mental exercises: imagining themselves walking or relaxing. Each session included three phases: calibration, cued-online with feedback, and using the system freely without cues. Breaks of 1-3 minutes were given between phases, depending on the participant's readiness. Each session, including setup, took about an hour and was conducted in Griffith University’s Physiotherapy Laboratory (G02_1.17).
Sponsors
Griffith University
Study design
Allocation
Non-randomised trial
Intervention model
Single group
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Following factors were considered/recorded for selecting participants for the study: 1. Healthy with no prior illnesses, 2. Participants should have a normal or corrected-to-normal vision.
Exclusion criteria
Following factors were considered for rejecting a participant for the study: 1. Pregnancy 2. Claustrophobia 3. Drug addiction 4. Neurological diseases
Outcome results
None listed