Periodic Reporting for period 1 - BRAINmade (Against prostheses abandonment: immersive and low-cost platform for the rehabilitation of upper-limb amputees)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2024-01-01 do 2025-12-31
Neurological injuries such as stroke and upper-limb amputation often lead to long-term motor impairments that require intensive and sustained rehabilitation. However, conventional rehabilitation approaches can be repetitive, resource-intensive, and difficult to personalize, limiting patient engagement and long-term effectiveness. At the same time, advanced digital rehabilitation technologies are often confined to specialized laboratories due to their complexity, cost, and limited portability. These challenges highlight the urgent need for scalable, engaging, and physiology-driven rehabilitation solutions that can be more easily integrated into real clinical practice and, in the future, home-based care.
The BRAINmade project addresses this need by developing an innovative platform that combines virtual reality (VR) with electromyography (EMG), a technology that records muscle activity. By translating users’ muscle signals into real-time actions within immersive virtual environments, the system aims to support more natural, engaging, and personalized motor training. The project builds on advances in neuroscience of embodiment and human–machine interaction, with the goal of creating rehabilitation experiences that better reflect how the brain and body work together during movement.
The overall objective of the project is to demonstrate the feasibility of a portable, scalable EMG–VR rehabilitation platform that supports both research and future clinical applications. To achieve this, the project developed a standalone VR application, integrated real-time muscle signal processing, and implemented remote monitoring tools that allow clinicians to track performance and adjust training parameters. Particular attention was devoted to user-centred design: individuals with upper-limb amputation were actively involved in testing and refining both the wearable sensing solutions and the virtual training scenarios, ensuring that the system addresses real user needs in terms of comfort, usability, and engagement.
Beyond its technical achievements, BRAINmade is expected to contribute to broader societal and healthcare goals. By lowering technological barriers and enabling more flexible deployment of advanced rehabilitation tools, the platform has the potential to improve access to intensive motor rehabilitation, support more personalized therapy pathways, and reduce inequalities in rehabilitation services. In the longer term, the project lays the groundwork for cost-effective digital neurorehabilitation solutions and future industrial exploitation in the growing field of immersive healthcare technologies.
The BRAINmade project addresses this need by developing an innovative platform that combines virtual reality (VR) with electromyography (EMG), a technology that records muscle activity. By translating users’ muscle signals into real-time actions within immersive virtual environments, the system aims to support more natural, engaging, and personalized motor training. The project builds on advances in neuroscience of embodiment and human–machine interaction, with the goal of creating rehabilitation experiences that better reflect how the brain and body work together during movement.
The overall objective of the project is to demonstrate the feasibility of a portable, scalable EMG–VR rehabilitation platform that supports both research and future clinical applications. To achieve this, the project developed a standalone VR application, integrated real-time muscle signal processing, and implemented remote monitoring tools that allow clinicians to track performance and adjust training parameters. Particular attention was devoted to user-centred design: individuals with upper-limb amputation were actively involved in testing and refining both the wearable sensing solutions and the virtual training scenarios, ensuring that the system addresses real user needs in terms of comfort, usability, and engagement.
Beyond its technical achievements, BRAINmade is expected to contribute to broader societal and healthcare goals. By lowering technological barriers and enabling more flexible deployment of advanced rehabilitation tools, the platform has the potential to improve access to intensive motor rehabilitation, support more personalized therapy pathways, and reduce inequalities in rehabilitation services. In the longer term, the project lays the groundwork for cost-effective digital neurorehabilitation solutions and future industrial exploitation in the growing field of immersive healthcare technologies.
During the project, the BRAINmade team designed, developed, and technically validated an integrated rehabilitation platform combining virtual reality (VR) and electromyography (EMG). The work focused on creating a portable and scalable system capable of translating muscle activity into real-time interaction within immersive virtual environments.
On the VR side, a fully standalone application was developed for commercial head-mounted displays. The software includes multiple interactive scenarios that allow users to perform goal-directed motor tasks using either anthropomorphic or tool-like virtual effectors. Particular attention was devoted to usability, visual performance, and real-time responsiveness, ensuring smooth interaction without the need for external computing infrastructure. A web-based control interface was also implemented, enabling remote session management, parameter adjustment, and continuous performance monitoring through dedicated dashboards.
In parallel, the project implemented and validated the EMG acquisition pipeline. A commercial multichannel EMG armband was integrated with a custom communication interface to enable reliable real-time gesture recognition and low-latency data transmission to the VR environment. This solution ensured immediate operational readiness while, in parallel, the team advanced the development of custom inkjet-printed EMG sensor matrices aimed at future low-cost and customizable wearable solutions.
The integrated system was tested in supervised sessions involving individuals with upper-limb amputation and control participants. These studies confirmed the feasibility of controlling both anthropomorphic and non-anthropomorphic virtual effectors through muscle activity in immersive conditions. Continuous logging and dashboard-based analytics enabled detailed quantitative monitoring of task performance across sessions.
Overall, the project successfully demonstrated the technical feasibility of a real-time EMG–VR rehabilitation platform and substantially reduced the main technological risks associated with system integration, portability, and user interaction. The outcomes of the action provide a solid foundation for subsequent clinical validation and further technological maturation of the platform.
On the VR side, a fully standalone application was developed for commercial head-mounted displays. The software includes multiple interactive scenarios that allow users to perform goal-directed motor tasks using either anthropomorphic or tool-like virtual effectors. Particular attention was devoted to usability, visual performance, and real-time responsiveness, ensuring smooth interaction without the need for external computing infrastructure. A web-based control interface was also implemented, enabling remote session management, parameter adjustment, and continuous performance monitoring through dedicated dashboards.
In parallel, the project implemented and validated the EMG acquisition pipeline. A commercial multichannel EMG armband was integrated with a custom communication interface to enable reliable real-time gesture recognition and low-latency data transmission to the VR environment. This solution ensured immediate operational readiness while, in parallel, the team advanced the development of custom inkjet-printed EMG sensor matrices aimed at future low-cost and customizable wearable solutions.
The integrated system was tested in supervised sessions involving individuals with upper-limb amputation and control participants. These studies confirmed the feasibility of controlling both anthropomorphic and non-anthropomorphic virtual effectors through muscle activity in immersive conditions. Continuous logging and dashboard-based analytics enabled detailed quantitative monitoring of task performance across sessions.
Overall, the project successfully demonstrated the technical feasibility of a real-time EMG–VR rehabilitation platform and substantially reduced the main technological risks associated with system integration, portability, and user interaction. The outcomes of the action provide a solid foundation for subsequent clinical validation and further technological maturation of the platform.
The results of the BRAINmade project demonstrate the feasibility of an integrated EMG–VR platform for immersive, physiology-driven neurorehabilitation. By enabling real-time interaction between muscle activity and virtual environments within a portable and scalable architecture, the project opens new opportunities for more engaging, personalized, and data-driven motor rehabilitation. The technology has the potential to benefit individuals with upper-limb motor impairments by supporting more intensive and adaptive training paradigms, while also providing clinicians with quantitative tools for performance monitoring and therapy adjustment.
Beyond its immediate research value, the platform establishes a foundation for future clinical and industrial translation in the rapidly growing field of digital neurorehabilitation. The standalone design, modular architecture, and remote monitoring capabilities support potential deployment in rehabilitation centres and, in the longer term, in home-based settings, contributing to improved accessibility of advanced rehabilitation technologies.
To ensure further uptake and maximize impact, several key steps have been identified. First, larger-scale clinical validation studies will be necessary to further assess usability, effectiveness, and integration within routine rehabilitation workflows. Second, continued technological maturation of the custom printed EMG sensors will be important to fully realize the anticipated cost and scalability advantages. Third, progression toward regulatory readiness, including medical device classification and compliance with relevant standards, will be required to support clinical adoption.
From an innovation perspective, future success will benefit from strengthened collaboration with industrial partners, further development of the intellectual property portfolio, and access to dedicated funding instruments supporting late-stage validation and commercialization. Additional work on interoperability, standardization, and internationalization will further enhance the platform’s readiness for broader deployment.
Overall, the project has delivered a technically validated and user-informed prototype that significantly reduces key translational risks. These results position BRAINmade as a promising candidate for next-stage clinical validation, regulatory development, and potential commercial exploitation in the field of immersive neurorehabilitation.
Beyond its immediate research value, the platform establishes a foundation for future clinical and industrial translation in the rapidly growing field of digital neurorehabilitation. The standalone design, modular architecture, and remote monitoring capabilities support potential deployment in rehabilitation centres and, in the longer term, in home-based settings, contributing to improved accessibility of advanced rehabilitation technologies.
To ensure further uptake and maximize impact, several key steps have been identified. First, larger-scale clinical validation studies will be necessary to further assess usability, effectiveness, and integration within routine rehabilitation workflows. Second, continued technological maturation of the custom printed EMG sensors will be important to fully realize the anticipated cost and scalability advantages. Third, progression toward regulatory readiness, including medical device classification and compliance with relevant standards, will be required to support clinical adoption.
From an innovation perspective, future success will benefit from strengthened collaboration with industrial partners, further development of the intellectual property portfolio, and access to dedicated funding instruments supporting late-stage validation and commercialization. Additional work on interoperability, standardization, and internationalization will further enhance the platform’s readiness for broader deployment.
Overall, the project has delivered a technically validated and user-informed prototype that significantly reduces key translational risks. These results position BRAINmade as a promising candidate for next-stage clinical validation, regulatory development, and potential commercial exploitation in the field of immersive neurorehabilitation.