The cortical activation pattern by a rehabilitation robotic hand: a functional NIRS study

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Rehabilitation Engineering
• Brain-Computer Interfaces

Background:

• Understanding the brain's response to external stimuli is crucial for neuroscience and brain rehabilitation.
• Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a valuable tool for investigating neural activity.
• Robotic hand rehabilitation presents a novel external stimulus for brain response studies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate cortical activation patterns during the use of a rehabilitation robotic hand.
• To clarify the relationship between robotic hand movements and brain activity.
• To assess brain response using fNIRS during a specific rehabilitation task.

Main Methods:

• Ten healthy subjects participated in the study.
• Passive finger movements were executed using a rehabilitation robotic hand at 0.5 Hz.
• fNIRS measured oxy-hemoglobin (HbO), deoxy-hemoglobin (HbR), and total-hemoglobin (HbT) in sensorimotor and prefrontal areas.

Main Results:

• Significant activation (p < 0.01) was observed in the left primary sensory-motor cortex (SM1), supplementary motor area (SMA), premotor cortex (PMC), and prefrontal cortex (PFC) for HbO and HbT.
• HbR showed significant activation (p < 0.01) specifically in the hand somatotopic area of the left SM1.
• These findings indicate distinct patterns of cortical engagement during robotic hand use.

Conclusions:

• The execution of a rehabilitation robotic hand can indeed induce significant cortical activation.
• fNIRS successfully detected brain responses associated with robotic hand rehabilitation.
• This research provides insights into the neural underpinnings of robotic-assisted motor recovery.