Plenary speakers deliver 45 minute lectures during the mornings of the scientific SSNR program. The lectures will span broad surveys of recent major developments in the neurorehabilitation field.
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Columbia University, USA
Abstract: Neural disorders, old age, and traumatic brain injury limit activities of daily living. Robotics can be used in novel ways to characterize human neuromuscular responses and retrain human functions. Columbia University Robotics and Rehabilitation (ROAR) Laboratory designs innovative mechanisms/robotics with these goals and performs scientific studies to improve human functions such as standing, walking, stairclimbing, trunk control, head turning, and others. Human experiments have targeted individuals with stroke, cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injury, ALS, and elderly subjects. The talk will provide an overview of these robotic technologies and scientific studies performed with them to demonstrate strong potential of rehabilitation robotics to improve human functions and quality of life of people.
Sunil Agrawal received a Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University in 1990. He is currently a Professor and Director of Robotics and Rehabilitation (ROAR) Laboratory at Columbia University, located both in engineering and medical campuses of the university. Dr. Agrawal has published more than 500 journal and conference papers, 20 U.S. patents, and 4 books. He is a Fellow of the ASME and AIMBE. His honors include a NSF Presidential Faculty Fellowship from the White House in 1994, a Bessel Prize from Germany in 2003, and a Humboldt US Senior Scientist Award in 2007. He is a recipient of 2016 Machine Design Award from ASME for “seminal contributions to design of robotic exoskeletons for gait training of stroke patients” and 2016 Mechanisms and Robotics Award from the ASME for “cumulative contributions and being an international leading figure in mechanical design and robotics”. He is a 2023 recipient of a Paintal Chair from Indian National Science Academy. He was a Plenary Speaker at the 2024 IEEE International Conference in Robotics and Automation in Yokohama. He has successfully directed 40+ PhD student theses and has received Best Paper awards in ASME and IEEE sponsored robotics conferences. He is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the journal “Wearable Technologies” published by Cambridge University Press. He organized the IEEE BioRob 2020 conference in New York City and served as its conference chair.
Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Abstract: Hybrid robotic systems, which combine Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES) with robotic devices, have recently emerged as a promising approach to overcoming the limitations of each technology when used in isolation. By enabling personalized interventions, these systems have the potential to significantly enhance therapeutic outcomes, especially when combined with the subject’s residual volitional capabilities. In my talk, I will first introduce the neurophysiological principles of NMES and its primary therapeutic effects. I will then discuss the key advantages and challenges of hybrid NMES-robotic systems. Finally, I will review various control strategies proposed in the literature, with a special focus on personalized solutions developed over the past 15 years at the Neuroengineering and Medical Laboratory of Politecnico di Milano.
Emilia Ambrosini is Associate Professor at Politecnico di Milano. She received her Master’s Degree cum laude in Biomedical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano in 2007 and her PhD degree com laude in Bioengineering in 2011. Since 2011, she carried on her research activity at NearLab (Neuroengineering and Medical Robotics Laboratory) and she has been involved in several national (FESleg and FeatherExo; INAIL – Centro Protesi; Active3, Fondazione Cariplo; HYBR-ID, PRIN Project) and international projects (MUNDUS, EU-FP7 ICT; RETRAINER, H2020 IA ICT; MOVECARE, H2020 ICT; ESSENCE, H2020 IA; NIH Biofeedback for CP; i3LUNG, HORIZON EU; iBeChange, HORIZON EU). Her research interests are the development of novel methods for functional electrical stimulation and robotic systems for rehabilitation, daily life assistance and practice of sport activities of neurological patients, the development of advanced methods to quantitatively assess the effects of rehabilitative programs both in terms of functional gains and neural correlates, the design and implementation of randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews to promote evidence-based approaches in rehabilitation. Since 2019, she is team manager of the POLIMI FES-bike team at CYBATHLON. She is co-authors of more than 55 papers in international journals indexed in Scopus (H-index 25, May 2024). She teaches the class of Biomedical Instrumentation (Bachelor in Biomedical Engineering) and the laboratory class of Functional Evaluation Laboratory (Master in Biomedical Engineering).
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Abstract: The mammalian motor system is a distributed, ultra-complex network that comprises the sensorimotor cortices, basal ganglia, thalamic and brainstem nuclei, cerebellum, and spinal interneuronal circuits. Neuroscientists have approached the “hard problem” of understanding neural control of movement by formulating theories of motor control. For any such theory to be useful, it must facilitate the tackling of the following questions. What are the neurophysiological and developmental origins of the movement control policy in the theory? What is the neural basis of motor skill learning? And how may our neuroscientific knowledge guide the development of neuro-rehabilitation for movement disorders? I argue that the theory of motor modularity – the idea that the motor system constructs movement by combining a limited number of discrete coordination modules called muscle synergies – is a viable theory of motor control relevant to neuro-rehabilitation. Our recent findings obtained from animal models and humans have relied on motor modularity to shed light on all questions above. Specifically, muscle synergies are encoded by spinal interneuronal populations and accessible by the motor cortex, and the plasticity of muscle synergies contributes to changes of motor patterns during motor development and motor learning. Finally, muscle synergies may serve as predictive markers and targets of intervention for personalized rehabilitation for stroke survivors.
A neuroscientist and biomedical engineer, Vincent C. K. Cheung is Associate Professor at the School of Biomedical Sciences of The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He obtained his B. Sc. in Mathematics and Pharmacology & Therapeutics from The University of British Columbia, Ph. D. in Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering from MIT and Harvard Medical School, and postdoctoral training from the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT. Prof. Cheung’s research focuses on understanding how the central nervous system controls voluntary movement and enables motor skill learning. He is interested in translating knowledge of movement control into new rehabilitation strategies for movement disorders. His articles have appeared in Nature Communications, PNAS, Journal of Neurophysiology, and multiple IEEE journals. He was invited to speak for professional conferences and events for the general audience (e.g., TEDxCUHK). He was the Chair of the Hong Kong-Macau Chapter of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (2018-19).
Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, USA
Abstract: This talk will overview some of the opportunities for making movement analysis more accessible in clinical settings. This builds upon recent advances in AI and computer vision. It will also discuss where existing methods fall short and what is required to obtain clinically meaningful measurements. Then, we will discuss what can be done with the large datasets of clinical movement available from these methods, such as self-supervised learning to develop novel biomarkers and imitation learning to recover kinetics and muscle activation.
I am an electrical engineer, neuroscientist, and physiatrist working as a physician-scientist at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab and Assistant Professor in the Northwestern University Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. I completed my residency in PM&R at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab (formerly Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago) where I remained as faculty. Prior to that I obtained a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Rice University followed by an MD and PhD in systems neuroscience from Baylor College of Medicine.
My lab works at the intersection of artificial intelligence, wearable sensors, computer vision, causal and biomechanical modeling, and novel technologies to more precisely monitor and improve rehabilitation outcomes. In particular, we focus on methods that can be easily translated and disseminated at scale into the clinic or real world. To enable this, we developed a wearable sensor and smartphone-based platform as well as a multicamera markerless motion capture system, both of which make it easy to acquire precise measurements of movement in clinical settings. Applications of this platform currently being tested include gamified electromyographic biofeedback using electromyography acquired from wearable sensors to improve muscle activation after SCI, and video- and sensor-based gait analysis from data acquired using a smartphone in clinic to enable precision rehabilitation interventions.
Imperial College London, United Kingdom
Professor Farina has been Full Professor at Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark, (until 2010) and at the University Medical Center Göttingen, Georg-August University, Germany, where he founded and directed the Institute of Neurorehabilitation Systems (2010-2016) until he moved to Imperial College London as Chair in Neurorehabilitation Engineering. His research focuses on biomedical signal processing, neurorehabilitation technology, and neural control of movement. Within these areas, he has (co)-authored approximately 400 papers in peer-reviewed Journals and >500 conference abstract and papers. He has been the President of the International Society of Electrophysiology and Kinesiology (ISEK) (2012-2014) and is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the official Journal of this Society, the Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology. He is also currently an Editor for IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering and the Journal of Physiology, and previously covered editorial roles in several other Journals.
Medical University of Vienna, Austria
Prof. Oskar C. Aszmann, born in Vienna, Austria. After a two year excursion into philosophy and biology Dr. Aszmann finished Medical School at the medical faculty of the University of Vienna (1994). He then went on to the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland where he learned the trade of peripheral nerve surgery from Prof. Lee Dellon and the basic science of peripheral nerve regeneration from Prof. Thomas Brushart. In 1998 he joined the Division of Plastic Surgery in Vienna where he was promoted the position of Associate Professor of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. Since 2006 he has entered a close collaboration with the company Otto Bock to explore the possibilities and limits of bionic reconstruction which has led to the establishment of a partly private/government funded Center for Extremity Reconstruction and Rehabilitation in 2012. This Center is being headed by Prof. Aszmann and has at its core interest the reconstruction and rehabilitation of patients with impaired extremity function. This goal is accomplished with a wide variety of surgical techniques of neuromuscular reconstruction alone or in combination with complex mechatronic devices. 2020 he has been given the position of Full Professor at the newly founded Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
His research focuses on all aspects of reconstructive surgery, both from a clinical but also from a basic research perspective. This has precipitated in different textbook chapters and is being published both in top journals of his field but also larger audience periodicals such as The Lancet and Science, various Nature Group Periodicals and very recently The New England Journal of Medicine. For his accomplishments in this field and his care for patients with complex extremity injuries he was awarded by the Royal Society of Medicine, London twice and received the Hans Anderl Award- the most prestigious research prize awarded by the European Association for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery for continued excellence in Plastic Surgery Research, the prestigious Houska Award for excellency in public-private partnership and most recently the Christian Doppler Prize for Research and Innovation in September 2020. He serves in the board of directors of several national und international scientific societies and is in the editorial board of several international Journals.
He has received numerous national and international research grants among these, from the Austrian Research Agency (FWF), the Christian Doppler Research Foundation and the European Research Council (ERC) with a sum total of more than 8 Mio€.
University of Pisa, Italy
Abstract: In this talk I will review some of the new directions that prosthetic research is taking, trying to move toward systems that are more complex yet can be controlled more simply: prostheses with multiple degrees of freedom simultaneously controlled, prostheses with variable stiffness, and prostheses with rich haptic feedback.
Antonio Bicchi is a scientist interested in robotics and intelligent machines for human use. He received his Ph.D. from the Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna, and was a postdoctoral fellow at MIT AI Lab, before becoming the first Professor of Robotics at the University of Pisa. In 2009 he founded the Soft Robotics Laboratory at the Italian Institute of Technology in Genoa. Since 2013 he cooperates with Arizona State University as adjunct Professor. He has coordinated many international projects, including four grants from the European Research Council (ERC).
He has authored over 500 scientific papers cited more than 25,000 times. His main contributions are in the field of analysis of grasping and manipulation, the design of soft and variable stiffness hands and limbs, and their control for both robotics and prosthetic applications. He supervised over 70 doctoral students and more than 20 postdocs, most of whom are now professors in universities and international research centers, or have launched their own spin-off companies. His students have received prestigious awards, including four first prizes and two nominations for the best Ph.D. Thesis on Robotics and Haptics subjects. He is a Fellow of IEEE since 2005, and the recipient of the 2018 Saridis Leadership Award.
Rice University, USA
Abstract: Over the past 35 years, computational modeling and simulation have transformed the design of airplanes, automobiles, and numerous other commercial products. By replacing physical prototypes with virtual prototypes, engineers can now perform design iterations computationally rather than physically, thereby allowing them to develop significantly improved designs in less time and at less cost through the use of numerical optimization methods. Unfortunately, a similar computational process has not yet been explored to optimize the design clinical treatments for movement impairments. In this lecture, I will describe the capabilities of the recently developed Neuromusculoskeletal Modeling (NMSM) Pipeline, which is Matlab-based software that adds Model Personalization and Treatment Optimization functionality to OpenSim. The software allows musculoskeletal modeling researchers working in collaboration with clinicians to develop personalized neuromusculoskeletal computer models of individual patients and then use those models to design personalized neurorehabilitation or surgical treatments that maximize each patient’s post-treatment movement function. The lecture will present the four tools available within the Model Personalization toolset, each of which uses standard Matlab optimization functionality, the three tools available within the Treatment Optimization toolset, each of which generates predictive simulations of movement using direct collocation optimal control, and a case study involving the design of personalized muscle synergy changes to improve walking speed and metabolic cost for an individual post-stroke.
B.J. Fregly, Ph.D., is the Trustee Professor and CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research in the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Bioengineering at Rice University. B.J.’s research focuses on personalized modeling, simulation, and optimization of the human neuromusculoskeletal system. He is the director of the Rice Computational Neuromechanics Lab, which is seeking to make computational design of personalized treatments for movement impairments a clinical reality. To support that effort, B.J.’s research group recently released the Matlab-based Neuromusculoskeletal Modeling (NMSM) Pipeline software, which adds Model Personalization and Treatment Optimization functionality to Stanford’s OpenSim musculoskeletal modeling software. B.J.’s lab is currently using the NMSM Pipeline to explore computational treatment design for stroke neurorehabilitation, knee osteoarthritis surgical planning and rehabilitation, and pelvic cancer surgical planning.
ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Abstract: To be announced
Olivier Lambercy obtained the PhD degree from the National University of Singapore in 2009 and joined the Rehabilitation Engineering Laboratory at ETH Zurich the same year. Since 2023, he is Adjunct Professor in the Department of Health Sciences and Technology (D-HEST) and the co-director of the Rehabilitation Engineering Laboratory. His research focuses on the development and clinical application of novel technological solutions to improve upper limb assessment, therapy and assistance after neurological injuries. He is a board member of the International Consortium for Rehabilitation Robotics, a member and principal investigator at the Singapore-ETH Center as part of the Future Health Technologies program, and serves as Associate Editor for the Journal of Neuroengineering and Rehabilitation since 2017.
Stanford University, USA
Abstract: Stroke comes in many different shapes sizes and, consequently, the symptoms that stroke patients experience are also quite diverse. Some of the most common symptoms include limb weakness, decreased sensation, visual impairment, and speech and language impairment. Other symptoms that stroke patients may experience are neglect, trouble swallowing, fatigue, depression, lack of balance, and impairment of fine motor control. The rehabilitation needs of stroke patients therefore quite varied. Our research team consists of clinical stroke neurologists and engineers who have collaborated to develop technologies that can be used by patients in their home to improve their stroke recovery. In this talk I will review our experience and look into the future of at-home stroke rehabilitation therapy. The specific objectives of the presentation are that learners will be able to: 1) Describe the main types of strokes; 2) Name common stroke symptoms; 3) Name at-home rehabilitation technologies for which there is the greatest need; 4) Design a clinical study to test an at-home rehabilitation technology.
Dr. Maarten Lansberg completed his neurology training at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and his neurovascular fellowship at Stanford University. Following fellowship, he joined the faculty of the Department of Neurology at Stanford where he is currently a Professor of Neurology. Dr. Lansberg’s research interest is in the design and conduct of clinical trials to test new methods for diagnosing and treating stroke patients. He has been an investigator on dozens of stroke trials, including acute stroke, stroke prevention, and stroke recovery trials.
Albert–Ludwigs–Universität Freiburg, Germany
Abstract: To be announced
Prof. Dr. Natalie Mrachacz-Kersting, a member of IEEE, received her Ph.D. degree in biomedical engineering from Aalborg University in 2005. She currently holds the Chair for Neuroscience and Neuroscience in Sport at the Albert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg and is a member of the BrainLinks-BrainTools Cluster of Excellence at IMBIT, Albert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg. Dr. Mrachacz-Kersting serves on the Executive Committee of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS) as the Vice President-elect for Member and Student Activities. She is also the Chair of the IEEE Women in Biomedical Engineering (WI(BM)E), member of the Steering Committee of IEEE Brain Technical Community, and the Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering Journal. She has previously held positions at Aalborg University in Denmark, FH Dortmund in Germany, and the University of Auckland in New Zealand. Dr. Mrachacz-Kersting’s research focuses on medical technology, biomedical engineering, and neuroscience. She has authored over 80 peer-reviewed journal articles, more than 130 conference papers and abstracts, ten book chapters, and one book. Her current projects primarily involve Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) for patient populations, including those suffering from stroke or ALS. Dr. Mrachacz-Kersting received several awards including the international BCI award in 2017.
University of Illinois at Chicago, USA
Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, USA
Abstract: Making use of visual display technology and human-robotic interfaces, many researchers have illustrated various opportunities to distort visual and physical realities. We have had success with interventions such as error augmentation, sensory crossover, and negative viscosity. Judicial application of these techniques leads to training situations that enhance the learning process and can restore movement ability after neural injury. I will trace out clinical studies that have employed such technologies to improve the health and function, as well as share some leading-edge insights that include deceiving the patient, moving the “smarts” of software into the hardware, and examining clinical effectiveness.
Dr. Patton’s research focuses on computational modeling of biomechanics, the neural control of actions, motor learning, and neuro-rehabilitation. He specializes in robotic manipulators and human machine-interactions to try to answer some of these questions.
Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, USA
Abstract: Uptake of healthcare innovations can be unnecessarily slow. Increasing collaboration between researchers and end-users has been shown to accelerate the adoption of new devices. End-users may include clinicians, patients, and caregivers. To address sluggish translation of rehabilitation technologies, rehabilitation researchers, leaders, clinicians, and patients provided input to adapt the Designing for AcceleRated Translation (DART) of Health Innovations Framework (Ramsey et. al., 2019) for rehabilitation technology. We have developed a survey to evaluate the implementation potential of rehabilitation technologies called Designing for AcceleRated Translation of Rehabilitation Technology (DART-RT)). We have completed iterative phases of survey design, validation, and have collected pilot data from researchers and over 100 clinicians (physical, occupational, and speech therapists). Results revealed seven key constructs falling into four key factors: (1) USEFULNESS (effectiveness, clinical utility, and relative advantage); (2) DEMAND (clinician demand and patient values); (3) COST; and (4) SAFETY. This session will describe how to use the principles of implementation science and user-centered design to address these constructs to improve initial implementation and scalability of novel rehabilitation technologies.
Dr. Miriam Rafferty is a Research Scientist and the Director of Implementation Science at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, as well as an Assistant Professor at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in the Departments of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and Psychiatry & Behavioral Science. She is also an active physical therapist clinician specializing in neurologic physical therapy. Dr. Rafferty’s research uses implementation science methodology to study the implementation of evidence-based practices and novel technologies into real-world rehabilitation settings.
TU Delft, The Netherlands