With more people suffering from neurological conditions such as stroke and multiple sclerosis (MS) each year, awareness of these conditions and how to treat or manage them has become more important. According to the World Health Organization, the lifetime risk of developing a stroke has risen by 50% over the past 17 years, with around one in every four people expected to suffer a stroke in their lifetime. Meanwhile, close to 3 million people have MS worldwide.
Stroke and MS patients are often left with a decreased quality of life, due to limited movement and muscle spasticity, particularly in their limbs. Most of the medications given to patients are unable to restore affected bodily functions. Instead, these can only prevent the patient’s condition from deteriorating or, in the case of MS, slow down the patient’s decline. Oral antispastic medications often provide limited effects and may induce side effects such as weakness, confusion and dizziness. For some patients, small doses of botulinum toxin (botox) are injected into the muscles to relieve the spasticity. This treatment is effective for only around 12 weeks, before it needs to be repeated, which can be both costly and risky.
Unlike most medications for stroke and MS on the market, recoveriX, a brain-computer interface neurorehabilitation treatment, has been shown to aid in the rehabilitation of stroke and multiple sclerosis patients. Developed by Austria-based company g.tec medical engineering, recoveriX electrically stimulates patients’ limbs, helping them regain function after being impaired by neurological conditions. The patient sits in front of a computer unit while wearing an EEG headset that reads the patient’s brainwaves. The monitor serves as a movement guide for their limbs and the electrodes connected to their limbs provide electrical stimulation to muscles, causing dorsiflexion of the joints. Each therapy session lasts for around an hour, with one recoveriX treatment block consisting of 25…
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