E-BRAiN

Stroke-related disabilities (“neuro-disabilities”) are increasing significantly worldwide. Through targeted and sufficiently intensive neurorehabilitative treatment any disabilities initially resulting from a stroke can substantially be reduced and more independence with activities of daily living can again be achieved. However, this will foreseeably require more therapeutic capacities in the areas of occupational therapy, speech therapy, neuropsychology, and physiotherapy than are currently available in the health care system. Humanoid robots as therapy assistants for neurorehabilitation may have the potential to help to meet these requirements. They cannot and should not, however, replace treatment provided by doctors and therapists. Yet, they may be used as supplement with the aim to reduce stroke-related disabilities.

The research association E-BRAiN (Evidence-Based Robot Assistance in Neurorehabilitation) led by Prof. Dr. Thomas Platz is funded by the state excellence initiative MV "Digitization in Research" with appr. 2 million euros for a research period from July 2019 to September 2022. Objective of the research is to investigate whether humanoid robots have the potential to be used as therapy assistants in neurorehabilitation. In this collaborative project, scientists from the University Medical Centre and University of Greifswald, the University of Rostock and the University of Applied Sciences Neubrandenburg are jointly pursuing this innovative research approach. The interdisciplinary consortium, consisting of medical professionals, computer scientists, psychologists and health economists, is working on the question of whether and if so how neurorehabilitative treatment can be digitally implemented, whether therapeutic benefit can be achieved using E-BRAiN, and how patients themselves evaluate this approach.