Towards AI-based precision rehabilitation via contextual model-based reinforcement learning

Stroke is a condition marked by considerable variability in lesions, recovery trajectories, and responses to therapy. Consequently, precision medicine in rehabilitation post-stroke, which aims to deliver the "right intervention, at the right time, in the right setting, for the right person," is essential for optimizing stroke recovery. Although artificial intelligence (AI) has been effectively utilized in other medical fields, no current AI system is designed to tailor and continuously refine rehabilitation plans post-stroke.

We propose a novel AI-based decision-support system for precision rehabilitation that uses reinforcement learning (RL) to personalize the treatment plan. Specifically, our system iteratively adjusts the sequential treatment plan-timing, dosage, and intensity-to maximize long-term outcomes based on a patient model that includes covariate data (the context). The system collaborates with clinicians and people with stroke to customize the recommended plan based on clinical judgment, constraints, and preferences. To achieve this goal, we propose a contextual Markov decision process (CMDP) framework and a novel hierarchical Bayesian model-based RL algorithm, named posterior sampling for contextual RL (PSCRL), that discovers and continuously adjusts near-optimal sequential treatments by efficiently balancing exploitation and exploration while respecting constraints and preferences.

We implemented and validated our precision rehabilitation system in simulations with 150 diverse, synthetic patients. Simulation results showed the system's ability to continuously learn from both upcoming data from the current patient and a database of past patients via Bayesian hierarchical modeling. Specifically, the algorithm's sequential treatment recommendations became increasingly more effective in improving functional gains for each patient over time and across the synthetic patient population. As a result, the algorithm's treatments were superior to non-adaptive, "one-size-fits-all" dosing schedules (uniform, decreasing, and increasing).

Our novel AI-based precision rehabilitation system, based on contextual model-based RL, has the potential to play a key role in novel learning health systems in rehabilitation.