Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and disability. Statistics show that one in six people in Taiwan will suffer a stroke in their lifetime. After a stroke, a patient's motor functions can be significantly impaired, with severe cases resulting in paralysis. The first half to one month post-stroke is the acute phase, during which most patients are bedridden. The period from the end of the acute phase to six months post-stroke is considered the golden recovery period, with the fastest recovery of motor abilities. However, traditional rehabilitation systems are often limited by manpower and equipment, making it challenging to improve efficiency and safety.

Professor Chen Jiaxin's team at Kaohsiung Medical University has developed a comprehensive rehabilitation system incorporating a novel brain-computer interface, which effectively enhances the cardiopulmonary and limb functions of stroke patients during the acute phase. This system comprises five components: a wireless physiological monitoring platform, brainwave feedback, a lower limb exoskeleton robot, dynamic weight support, and a safety control system. It breaks through efficiency and safety barriers by achieving brain-computer interface-regulated exercise training, real-time monitoring of heart rate and blood pressure changes, and allowing stroke patients to maximize training efficiency through gradually reducing weight support, thereby boosting active participation in rehabilitation and accelerating the recovery of limb motor functions.

Enhancing Stroke Rehabilitation with Brain-Computer Interface and Exoskeleton Robots

The innovative features of this technology include:

1. Supportive and Repetitive Training with Exoskeleton Robots: The system leverages the exoskeleton robot's advantages in supportive and repetitive training to help stroke patients achieve cardiopulmonary training that was previously difficult. Real-time physiological monitoring ensures complete oversight of physiological changes during the rehabilitation process, enabling timely adjustments to training intensity.
2. Brainwave Feedback Integration: By incorporating brainwave feedback throughout the rehabilitation process, the system enhances neurofeedback rehabilitation training effectiveness, ensuring the quality of rehabilitation training.
3. Real-Time Physiological Monitoring: This feature provides information to adjust training intensity and continuously monitors physiological changes during exercise, allowing the executor to assess the patient's risk.
4. Dynamic Weight Support for Natural Walking Training: The system offers ground-based natural walking training with dynamic weight support, balancing gait training and providing early rehabilitation training for lower limb gait support, walking assistance, and brain neurorehabilitation.

Towards a New Era of Autonomous Rehabilitation with Effective and User-Friendly Experiences

Professor Chen Jiaxin stated that the system is based on self-efficacy theory, introducing a new concept into cardiopulmonary training for stroke patients. It enables free walking for hemiplegic patients to stimulate neural remodeling, combines physiological information alert systems to create a safer exercise environment for stroke patients, and strengthens neurofeedback rehabilitation training effectiveness. This system not only improves rehabilitation efficiency and safety but also promotes cardiopulmonary function recovery, prevents muscle atrophy due to prolonged bed rest during the acute phase, and enhances the overall quality of life for patients.

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