ISD and British universities publish scientific article on project that helps stroke patients

16/05/2017

By: Ariane Mondo – Ascom ISD

Photos: Ariane Mondo and SOPHIA project disclosure

On May 4th, researchers from Santos Dumont Institute (ISD), through the Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neuroscience (IIN-ELS), published an article in the international scientific journal Frontiers about an innovative project developed in the form of international cooperation: SOPHIA, an external robotic device controlled by a Brain-Machine Interface (BMI) system that is capable of assisting in the rehabilitation of upper limbs in patients suffering from a Stroke. Link to the abstract in English HERE.

This project is the result of collaboration between the Postgraduate Program in Neuroengineering at IIN-ELS/ISD, in Macaíba/RN, and the groups “Robotics Lab” and “Stokes Research Group" from the Heriot-Watt University (HWU) It is Institute for Integrated Micro and Nano Systems, from the University of Edinburgh, both in the United Kingdom.

Fabricio Brazil and Renan Moioli, researchers from IIN-ELS involved in the SOPHIA project, state that the development of the system was, from the beginning, conceived as a way to improve the motor rehabilitation process: “This is one of the first works in the world that combines ICM with “soft robotics”. We consider one of the greatest differentials of SOPHIA to be the incorporation of ICM concepts as part of a motor rehabilitation protocol, associated with the revolution in the “soft robotics” area, which allows for more anatomical systems, with more degrees of freedom. The term freedom, in the areas of engineering and control systems, refers to the number of parameters that determine the configuration of the system”, explain the Brazilian scientists.

The proposal developed by the institutions involved in this research allowed for the exchange of expertise among the researchers involved. Scientists from HWU, who visited ISD in 2015, improved their knowledge and applications of BMI, while researchers from ISD, who visited HWU in the same year, deepened their knowledge in “soft robotics” and robotics.

Project development and developments

SOPHIA is still in the research phase and the first proof of concept indicating the next stages of development was successfully completed before the project began functional testing and rehabilitation evaluation. The SOPHIA project was funded by the UK's Newton Fund, which aims to promote greater interaction between the UK and fifteen countries, including Brazil, by fostering proposals in strategic areas of research and innovation.

As an original project, especially in relation to the integration of the ICM with the “soft robotics” system, SOPHIA was improved throughout 2015 and 2016: “In addition, a master’s student and a doctoral student, both from HWU, explored the vast amount of data produced by the initial tests and their findings were incorporated into the articles produced”, state the IIN-ELS researchers. In addition to this article published in the journal Frontiers, the SOPHIA project has already had an article published as a book chapter and another article accepted for publication in an international journal.

Based on these advances in Neuroengineering, an area of expertise of IIN-ELS, a second proposal to the Newton Fund was approved, enabling researcher Fabrício Brasil to participate in the Acquired Brain Injury workshop in Curitiba last year. Brasil then traveled to increase collaborations with researchers from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom (See the article HERE).

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Researchers participating in the SOPHIA project

Santos Dumont Institute (ISD)

Fabricio L. Brazil
Renan C. Moioli

Heriot-Watt University

Patricia A. Vargas
Alistair C. McConnell
Marta Vallejo
Cecile P. Riquart
David W. Corne

The University of Edinburgh

Nicola Secciani
Markus P. Nemitz
Adam A. Stokes

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The Santos Dumont Institute (ISD) is a Social Organization that maintains links with the Ministry of Education (MEC), and whose mission is to promote education for life, forming citizens through integrated teaching, research and extension actions and contributing to the fairer and more humane transformation of Brazilian social reality.