Project description DEENESFRITPL How VR helps upper limb recovery in stroke patients Every 20 seconds someone in Europe has a stroke, which is the second leading cause of death and the third leading cause of disability-adjusted life years worldwide. Improving upper limb motor recovery is a major therapeutic target in stroke rehabilitation. The EU-funded ImpHandRehab project will build on previous findings that reward-based interventions can optimise motor learning in stroke patients suffering upper limb impairments. It will show the potential of virtual reality (VR) technology as an effective rehabilitation tool. Specifically, it will use a VR-compatible motion capturing glove to accurately collect individual finger position data without the need for a camera. The aim of the project is to create an affordable, flexible, accurate, interactive and scientifically-validated hand-based rehabilitation product that patients will be able to use at home. Show the project objective Hide the project objective Objective The ERC proThe ERC project (MotMotLearn), underlying ImpHandRehab, aims to develop reward-based interventions that optimise motor learning in stroke patients suffering upperlimb impairments. MotMotLearn has shown that if reward-based feedback is combined with a distracting environment learning is robust to interference and resistant to forgetting; important components for a successful rehabilitation intervention. However, this work has highlighted several technical limitations which restrict our ability to apply this knowledge to stroke patients. First, an engaging virtual reality (VR) environment is required that enables reward-based feedback to be combined with distracting environments. Second, many stroke patients exhibiting upperlimb impairment are unable to open their hand (finger extension). Not only does this limit participation in rehabilitation programs but also restricts functional use of the arm. Crucially, existing hand-based VR-related equipment has at least one of the following issues; limited ability to measure individual finger movements, requires the hand to be in close proximity to a camera or is prohibitively expensive. Therefore, a clear gap exists for a sensitive, flexible and affordable VR-based product that focuses on hand function recovery. To address this, ImpHandRehab will use a state-of-the-art VR-compatible motion capturing glove which accurately collects individual finger position data without the need for a camera. Several VR tasks will be developed that focus on improving finger extension (whole hand and individual fingers) through the combination of closed-loop reward-based learning designs and distracting environments. These tasks will be optimised in healthy older adults and validated in stroke patients via the UK’s largest upperlimb rehabilitation clinic. ImpHandRehab will create an affordable, flexible, accurate, interactive and scientifically-validated hand-based rehabilitation product which patients will be able to use at home. Fields of science engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensorsoptical sensorsmedical and health sciencesclinical medicinephysiotherapymedical and health sciencesbasic medicineneurologystrokenatural sciencescomputer and information sciencessoftwaresoftware applicationsvirtual reality Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme Topic(s) ERC-2019-POC - ERC Proof of Concept Grant Call for proposal ERC-2019-PoC See other projects for this call Funding Scheme ERC-POC-LS - ERC Proof of Concept Lump Sum Pilot Host institution THE UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM Net EU contribution € 150 000,00 Address Edgbaston B15 2TT Birmingham United Kingdom See on map Region West Midlands (England) West Midlands Birmingham Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost No data Beneficiaries (1) Sort alphabetically Sort by Net EU contribution Expand all Collapse all THE UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM United Kingdom Net EU contribution € 150 000,00 Address Edgbaston B15 2TT Birmingham See on map Region West Midlands (England) West Midlands Birmingham Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost No data
