Brain to Robot: 'Move, Please'
From: Wireless Design - 09/22/2016

Using the power of thought to control a robot that helps to move a paralysed
hand: a project from the ETH Rehabilitation Engineering Laboratory could
fundamentally change the therapy and daily lives of stroke patients.

Roger Gassert, Professor of Rehabilitation Engineering at ETH Zurich is
currently driven by the question of what happens in the brain and how
commands pass from the brain to reach the extremities after a stroke.
"Especially with seriously affected patients, the connection between the
brain and the hand is often severely or completely disrupted," Gassert
explains, "so we are looking for a solution that will help patients pass on
commands to the robotic device intuitively." The idea is to detect in the
brain a patient's intention to move his or her hand and directly pass this
information on to the exoskeleton. This may also produce a therapeutic
benefit. According to Gassert, a number of studies show that it is possible
to strengthen existing neural connections between the brain and the hand with
regular exercise. An important component for this is that the brain receives
somatosensory feedback from the hand when it produces a command to move.

Read the entire article at:
https://www.wirelessdesignmag.com/news/2016/09/brain-robot-move-please
https://www.ethz.ch/content/main/en/news-und-veranstaltungen/eth-news/news/2016/09/hirn-an-roboter-bitte-bewegen.html

Links:
Roger Gassert
http://www.relab.ethz.ch/laboratory/team/roger-gassert.html

Rehabilitation Engineering Laboratory
http://www.relab.ethz.ch

Robot-Assisted Rehabilitation and Assessment of Hand Function
http://www.relab.ethz.ch/research/current-research-projects/robot-assisted-rehabilitation-and-assessment-of-hand-function.html

Robotic Hand Orthosis for Therapy and Assistance in Activities of Daily
  Living
http://www.relab.ethz.ch/research/current-research-projects/robotic-hand-orthosis-for-therapy-and-assistance-in-activities-of-daily-living.html