The hands-on workshops will allow students to understand the basic principles of the technologies, plan clinical interventions and experiments and use the devices and tools in real applications.

  Download here the List of the tentative allocation of the participants to the different workshop topics (.pdf)

 

Every attendee can participate in two workshops, according to the preferences selected and to the workshop availability. The content of each workshop will be divided in three days, so it is necessary to attend the three days to make the most of the workshop.

 

WS1 and WS2 were CANCELLED:

WS1 – Neural interfaces
Organizer:
Filipe Barroso, PhD
Neural Rehabilitation Group, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Madrid, Spain
WS2 – Benchmarking
Organizer:
Diego Torricelli, PhD
Neural Rehabilitation Group, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Madrid, Spain

WS3 – Agency and Embodiment: the neurobiological aspects of body representation

The representation of the body is complex, involving the encoding and integration of a wide range of multisensory (somatosensory, visual, auditory, vestibular, visceral) and motor signals: our brain is very adaptive, and can map artificial tools as an extension of the physical body, the so called “embodiment”. One example of sensory embodiment is the Rubber Hand Illusion (RHI) experiment. During the RHI experiment, the sight of brushing of a rubber hand at the same time as brushing of the person’s own hidden hand is sufficient to produce a feeling of ownership of the fake hand (Botvinick and Cohen, 1998). During the first day of the workshop participants will personally experience embodiment and bodily plasticity phenomena through the RHI, a perfect example of multisensory integration.

During the second day participants will experience the “sense of agency” or “sense of control”, that refers to the subjective awareness that one is initiating, executing, and controlling one’s own volitional actions. To this aim an experimental set-up to control through wearable sensors an avatar within a virtual reality environment will be described. Participants will experience the use of the system, that include magneto-inertial sensors to record user’s trunk and arms motion (Trigno, Delsys), a virtual reality apparatus, headset plus tracking camera (Vive, HTC), to provide an immersive experience in a virtual environment developed with the software Unity. Different control modalities mapping the motion between the user and the virtual avatar will be described and tested.

Organizer:
Iolanda Pisotta PhD
NeuroRobot Lab, Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, Roma

In collaboration with:
Giovanni Di Pino PhD
Domenico Formica PhD
Unit of Neurophysiology and Neuroengineering of Human-Technology Interaction (NEXT Lab)
Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Roma

WS4 – Brain-Computer Interfaces: principles and applications in neurorehabilitation

 

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) can be realized with EEG, ECoG, or spike activity recorded from the brain. A BCI convert brain waves into signals which can be interpreted by computers either to make statements about the brain itself, or to control an attached output device. BCIs have been developed during the last years mainly for people with severe disabilities to improve their quality of life. The integration of BCIs into rehabilitation settings is a promising new approach that enhances the rehabilitation process.

Schedule:

September, 16: g.tec’s Brain-Computer Interface Workshop for Control, Assessment and Rehabilitation

Research groups all over the world have been successfully working on a direct connection between the human brain and a computer, a so-called Brain-Computer Interface (BCI). During this workshop, we will demonstrate major concepts in BCI systems, including types of sensors, signal processing, and applications. New trends like embodiment, coma assessment and communication, stroke rehabilitation, and invasive ECoG based systems will also be explained.

September, 17: mindBEAGLE – Consciousness Assessment

Brain-computer interface systems can be used for many different applications. This workshop will show two high impact application consciousness assessment and communication. We will discuss the technology and validation studies in different international institutions.

September, 18: recoveriX – Motor Recovery Neurotechnology

Brain-computer interface systems can be used for many different applications. This workshop will show two high impact applications for motor recovery of stroke patients. We will discuss the technology and validation studies in different international institutions and the success we achieved with patients.

Organizer:
Christoph Guger
Guger Technologies OG

WS5 – Bringing brain theory to the clinic using artificial intelligence and virtual reality: The Rehabilitation Gaming Systems

 

The goal of neurorehabilitation research is to incorporate experimental evidence into clinical application. The Rehabilitation Gaming System (RGS) is a virtual reality application for stroke rehabilitation that has been intensively validated through clinical trials (da Silva Cameirão et al. 2010, da Silva Cameirão et al. 2011, Nirme et al. 2013, Ballester et al. 2015, Ballester et al. 2017, Maier et al. 2017) and that is now available as science-based intervention in hospitals and clinics worldwide (www.eodyne.com). RGS is based on neuroscientific principles of motor recovery and motor learning and promotes neuroplasticity by making use of the action execution and action observation paradigm. In this workshop, we will present the clinical evidence behind the success of RGS and will explore with the participants the scientific insights that guided the design of RGS rehabilitation protocols. The participants will learn about the neurological building blocks of RGS through hands-on exercises and demos. Additionally, they will have the opportunity to model the recovery pattern of different patient profiles. To optimize the workshop, the participants should bring their laptops (Microsoft Windows or Mac OS). We will provide demos and programmes.

Organizers:
Javier De La Torre Costa
Klaudia Grechuta
Laboratory of Synthetic, Perceptive, Emotive and Cognitive Systems (SPECS-lab)
Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC)

WS6 – Neural manipulation in animal models to advance neurorehabilitation – techniques and ethical considerations.

Why are animal models used in the research field? Controversy around this topic has been increasing in the past years. On the other hand, it is not yet possible to replace animal models with alternative methods to answer some scientific questions. This Workshop aims at introducing the main advantages and limitations to consider in animal physiology research and its relationship with the Neurorehabilitation field. For that matter we´ll have the privilege to count with Prof. Oudega, from the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab of Chicago to talk about his experience in translational neuroscience. Furthermore, key elements for electrophysiological recordings and stimulation techniques, as well as instrumentation for surgery protocols will be shown. The Workshop will also include a round table discussion around the ethical considerations on the use of animal models. Students are encouraged to engage in this discussion.

Schedule:

DAY 01: Introducing translational neuroscience.
Animal models for the study of nervous system.
Neural interfaces in translational approaches.
Modeling Spinal Cord Injury and Repair: Translational Path from Lab to Clinic (Prof. Martin Oudega).
Surgery techniques for neurophysiology in rodents

DAY 02: Neural manipulation in animal models.
Types of electrophysiological recordings and neural stimulation.
The electrophysiology setup and data analysis examples.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation.

DAY 03: Ethical considerations.
Regulation and Recommendations in animal research.
Discussion on the use of animal models in research and neurorehabilitacion.
Closing remarks.

Organizers:
Nuria Benito, PhD
Arantzazu San Agustín Perez
Filipe O. Barroso, PhD
Cajal Institute, CSIC

WS7 – Soft Bionic Technologies for Upper Limb Prostheses: Present and Future Avenues in Design and Control

Since the 16th century, science and engineering have endeavored to match the richness and complexity of the human hand sensory-motor system. However, the human hand consists of a complex architecture of bones, joints, muscles and ligaments, difficult to reproduce in artificial devices. In the last decade novel theories and technologies are leading the next generation of high techlogic bionic aids. This workshop will provide an overview on the state of art technologies for upper limb prosthetics, focusing on novel emerging trends in design and control strategies based on soft robotic methods and surface electromyographic sensors. Additionally, the participants will learn about the importance of sensory feedback and strategies to restore it through the use of wearable devices. During the workshop participants will directly work with state-of-art prosthetic devices and will experience different control methods using tools and devices provided by the organizers.

Organizers:
Manuel Catalano
Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia
Cristina Piazza
Shirley Ryan AbilityLab – former Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago

Advisory Board:
Prof. Antonio Bicchi
Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia – Centro “E. Piaggio”, University of Pisa
Prof. Levi Hargrove
Shirley Ryan AbilityLab – former Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago

In collaboration with:
Giorgio Grioli
Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia
Matteo Bianchi
Centro “E. Piaggio”, University of Pisa

Supporting Projects
NaturalBionics, H2020 project (ID:810346)
SoftPro, H2020 project (ID:688857)