RehabNet: A Multimodal Neuro-Robotic VR system for Stroke Rehabilitation
Staff - Faculty of Informatics
Start date: 30 January 2015
End date: 31 January 2015
The Faculty of Informatics is pleased to announce a seminar given by Athanasios Vourvopoulos
DATE: Friday, January 30th, 2015
PLACE: USI Lugano Campus, room SI-006, Informatics building (Via G. Buffi 13)
TIME: 14.00
ABSTRACT:
Globally, stroke is the second leading cause of death above the age of 60 years, with the actual number of strokes to increase because of the ageing population. This results into chronic conditions, loss of independence, affecting both the families of stroke survivors but also public health systems. Virtual Reality (VR) for rehabilitation is considered a novel and effective low-cost approach to re-train motor and cognitive function through strictly defined training tasks in a safe simulated environment. However, little is known about how the choice of VR interfacing technology affects motor and cognitive performance, or what the most cost-effective rehabilitation approach for patients with different prognostics is. Finally, detailed information on what brain activation patterns lead to successful functional recovery is not available, very little is known about how to optimally use a neuro-feedback paradigm. Based on the current limitations, the target of this project is to develop a novel upper-limb rehabilitation system with the use of novel ICT technologies including Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI's), robotics and VR systems. This will allows us not only to effectively train motor function, but to monitor and to collect extensive synchronized brain activity and behavioural data on patient performance during the recovery process. Final goal is to generalize the findings of the research into a neuro-feedback paradigm for future applications either at home or in a clinical environment
BIO:
Athanasios Vourvopoulos (Thanos) is a PhD Candidate at the University of Madeira, involved in brain-controlled virtual environments and brain-computer interaction. He has previous experience in brain-controlled robots, assessing various prototypes during his undergraduate and postgraduate studies. His current research focuses in Neuroscience Based Interactive Systems for stroke Rehabilitation through neuro-feedback with the use of Virtual Reality (VR).
HOST: Prof. Marc Langheinrich
