Medical tech projects at cutting edge

The Agency for Science, Technology and Research recently announced a $36 million fund for medical technology projects and collaborations. The Straits Times looks at three such projects being funded by the
agency through this and other schemes.

'Mind-reading' rehab system for stroke patients

THREE years on a programme to study a brainwave-reading rehabilitation system for stroke patients has been boosted by a new three-year grant.

A group of researchers aims to create a portable version of the system and tailor it for finer motor functions such as hand and wrist movements.

In a stroke, where blood flow to the brain is cut off temporarily, victims are often unable to move their limbs on one side. This partial paralysis can last for months afterwards.

The technology uses a cap with electrodes that pick up the patient's brain signals as he imagines movement, and transmits them to a robotic harness that moves the patient's shoulder or elbow.

In the project's second phase, it will be altered to move the hands and fingers.

To do so, researchers will have to programme new software to translate brain signals into hand movements.

The team of researchers from the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star), National Neuroscience Institute and Tan Tock Seng Hospital found that this treatment allows stroke patients to recover faster.

So far, 55 patients have participated in the trial. This results are comparable to those for other therapies using human or robotic therapists.

"If you have a new method, it adds to the range of treatments that you can offer patients," said Tan Tock Seng senior consultant Karen Chua.

Asked whether therapy done with the brain-computer interface has longer lasting effects, she said that was not clear yet, and patients who did either kind of therapy continued to improve.

The team is also developing a portable, non-robotic electrode system that patients can use at home.

A similar technology is being tested by A*Star, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School and the Institute of Mental Health, to help children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.