Brain Computer Interfaces and OT

The ability to affordably track brainwave activity has opened up tremendous opportunities in occupational therapy. Regardless of where we work (or the patient populations we treat), our work has the potential to be significantly informed by this technology over the next few decades.

In this one-hour course, we will look at a research study on brain-computer interface (BCI). The study will serve as a jumping-off point to explore the concepts and developments that OTs should follow in this space.

After our article review, we’ll be joined by Lauren Souders, MOT, OTR/L, CBIS, CSRS. Lauren works as Director of Clinical Operations for a BCI startup.

We’ll talk with her about what is on the market for brain-computer interface, as well as what types of BCI we can expect to see coming to market in the future. And, most importantly, we’ll discuss how occupational therapy care may be improved over the next decade with the aid of these exciting new technologies.

Supplemental Materials

• Science Can Link Your Brain to a Computer. Are You Ready? (Bloomberg video)

• Restoring Functional Reach-to-Grasp using FES and ECoG (1 minute video!)

• American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine

• Evidence-based Review of Stroke Rehabilitation

• Neurolutions

1. You will be able to name the basic types of brain-computer interface approaches and clinical applications that are being developed.

2. You will be able to identify the concepts that drive BCI—including ones that you can start incorporating into your practice today.

• Intro

• Breakdown and analysis of journal article

  • An introduction to the concepts to you need to know about

    • Mental practice

    • Mirror neurons/imitative learning

    • Action Observational Training (AOT)

    • AOT+ brain-computer interface (BCI) with functional electrical stimulation (FES)

    • Activity-dependent brain plasticity

  • Why was this paper written?

  • What methods did the authors use?

  • What were the results?

  • Authors’ conclusion and recommendations

  • Takeaways for OT practitioners

• Discussion on practical implications for OTs (with guest Lauren Souders)

  1. What were your initial impressions of the article?

  2. Which advancements in BCI do you think are most important for OTs to be following?

  3. What are the different types of BCI that have the potential to be used in therapy?

  4. In traditional OT settings, do you think we should be changing our practice, based on what we are learning in the BCI world?

  5. In traditional OT settings, if a patient asked you about BCI, what would you tell them?

  6. In 5-10 years, how do you see BCI technologies impacting occupational therapy?

  7. How do you see OT needing to change to prepare for the new technologies?

Primary

• Effects of Action Observational Training Plus Brain-Computer Interface-Based Functional Electrical Stimulation on Paretic Arm Motor Recovery in Patient with Stroke: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Additional

• Contralesional Brain-Computer Interface Control of a Powered Exoskeleton for Motor Recovery in Chronic Stroke Survivors

• Brain-computer interfaces for post-stroke motor rehabilitation: a meta-analysis

It is the policy of OT Potential to disclose any financial and non-financial interest the provider or instructor may have in a product or service mentioned during an activity. This is to ensure that the audience is made aware of any bias of the speaker.

OT Potential pays guest speakers an honorarium for their participation, either directly or to an institution of the speaker's choosing at their request. We invite guests whose expertise often comes from practices, programs, or building products in their field. Where a speaker has a financial interest in the subject of a course, we disclose it below so you can weigh it for yourself.

OT Potential's interest in this topic: We have no financial stake in this topic. Our Supplemental Materials link to Neurolutions, our speaker's employer; we receive no compensation for that link.

Speaker interests: Lauren Souders is Director of Clinical Operations at Neurolutions, which develops brain-computer interface technology for stroke rehabilitation, including the IpsiHand.