Researchers from the Santos Dumont Institute, a social organization linked to the Ministry of Education located in Macaíba, participated in the book “Advances in Technology-Assisted Neurorehabilitation”, published by Academic Press. The work is the result of collaboration between research groups from Brazil, Ecuador, Spain, Germany and Japan and its main theme is assistive technologies in rehabilitation combined with concepts from neuroscience.
ISD research professors Denis Delisle Rodriguez, Caroline Cunha do Espírito Santo and André Dantas participated, together with Thayse Albuquerque and André Oliveira, graduates of the institution's Neuroengineering Postgraduate Program, as authors of one of the book's chapters.
The portion of the work signed by the scientists from Macaíba presents advanced technological solutions for the motor rehabilitation of upper limbs, with the central theme being brain-computer interfaces, technologies capable of connecting the human mind to devices and systems.
The researchers explain that, through electrical stimulation devices and virtual reality games, it is possible to enhance the recovery of hand functions, which in many cases are compromised due to neurological dysfunctions.
“These technological alternatives add new knowledge to the field of Neuroengineering, enabling the creation of new therapeutic proposals for complex cases with severe neurological damage through brain-computer interfaces, which have been the subject of studies worldwide”, explains one of the authors, Professor Denis Delisle Rodriguez.
One of the solutions specifically presented and described in the chapter is an upper limb rehabilitation system, developed at ISD, which uses virtual reality and electrical stimulation. The aim of the invention is to restore functions such as, for example, “grasping” objects with the hands. The system is aimed at two audiences: people with hemiparesis (partial muscle weakness) resulting from a stroke and people with tetraplegia due to a spinal cord injury.
“The system is currently being applied to individuals with tetraplegia, with promising results that can improve their quality of life. For ISD, which provides care for spinal cord injuries, this is a huge contribution, since these people need to acquire skills for locomotion and other daily activities,” says Professor Caroline Cunha do Espírito Santo.
In addition to the ISD scientists, professionals from the Federal University of Espírito Santo, the Universidad Politécnica Salesiana (Ecuador), Kumamoto University (Japan), the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Spain) and the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Germany) contributed to the chapter. The complete book can be accessed or purchased through the website Elsevier or in Amazon.
ABOUT ISD
The Santos Dumont Institute (ISD) is a Social Organization linked to the Ministry of Education (MEC) and includes the Edmond and Lily Safra International Neuroscience Institute and the Anita Garibaldi Center for Health Education and Research, both in Macaíba. ISD's mission is to promote education for life, forming citizens through integrated teaching, research and extension actions, in addition to contributing to a fairer and more humane transformation of Brazilian social reality.
