Tapping Into Uninjured Brain With IpsiHand Stroke Rehab System: Eric Leuthardt, MD
The founder and chief scientific officer of Neurolutions discussed the mechanisms by which the IpsiHand System effectively assists patients with chronic stroke.
"The other thing that gets us excited is that when we publish these papers on brain computer interfacing, they’re typically done in very rarefied controlled laboratory environments. The expectation was that you’re going to use these types of technology, that they had to be in specialized tertiary environments. We’re doing brain computer interface with patients at home.”
Neurolutions’ IpsiHand Upper Extremity Rehabilitation System, a brain-computer interfacing system, recently received de novo clearance by the FDA to assist patients with chronic stroke during rehabilitation. As the first of its kind, the device utilizes the uninjured, or ipsilateral, side of the brain to improve arm and hand function and is designed with a robotic exoskeleton to physically open and close the patient’s hand in response to the patient’s thoughts.
Along with the exoskeleton, the system includes an electroencephalogram (EEG)-based headset and tablet. Eric Leuthardt, MD, founder and chief executive officer, Neurolutions, claims that despite post-stroke motor disability, tapping into the uninjured side of the brain still leaves an opportunity for improvement.
Leuthardt, who also the division chief of neurotechnology, professor of neurosurgery, neuroscience, biomedical and mechanical engineering, and materials science at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, sat down to discuss the major advantages this device brings to the post-stroke rehab landscape. He stressed the at-home accessibility as a reason for why clinicians and patients alike may take to it.
