Investigating Neuroplasticity using EEG through various interventions

Project Title

Investigating Neuroplasticity using EEG through various interventions

Project Area of Specialization Biomedical EngineeringProject Summary

In Pakistan, Mental health and neurological disorders are prevailing rapidly and the burden of neural disorders is increasing day by day because of lack of better diagnostic facilities along with poor management due to issues of access, availability of trained personnel and stigma alongside paucity of such data. Consequently, there is a need to document current treatment approaches along with the development of new techniques and therapies for the treatment of neurological disorders through research and development.

Our team believes that it is of utmost importance to research and develop more techniques and therapies for better medical treatments of neurological disorders in Pakistan. We are a team of biomedical engineering final year students from Riphah International University, doing a research based FYP (final year project) in the field of neuroscience and we will like to share our idea and research work as a contribution to the good health and wellbeing goal of the national initiative for sustainable development goals. Our target is to reduce mortality from non-communicable diseases and promote mental health. 

Through literature review, we know that brain has the ability to adapt and change called brain plasticity. Whenever we are learning or practicing something new, our brain is reorganizing by making new neural connections and pathways; the formation of these new connections is called neuroplasticity.

By various interventions and therapies, we can exercise the brain and make stronger and more connections which will improve the quality of life by improving the cognitive and psychomotor abilities of patients suffering from various neurological disorders including; Alzheimer, dementia, Parkinson disease, stroke, autism, different behavioural and learning disorders.

In this project, we will measure the brain state of the patients before, during, and after the therapies, and through EEG markers, we will investigate the establishment of neuroplasticity in those patients by putting EEG cap on their head and flex sensor sleeve on their effected hand to perform and record the hand movement and brain activity, then we will observe the establishment of neuroplasticity. This process is quite promising as it actively engages the patients to go through various activities and programs to help in rehabilitation by encouraging motor pathways to regenerate and develop. 

Consequently, the advent of more and more ways to incorporate new therapies into the rehabilitation process can very much so change the way the world looks at rehabilitation. With increasing advances in the health sector, it is quite evident that in the near future, stroke patients that receive exercise along with VR therapy will go on to live a life with decreased disabilities.

Project Objectives

Objectives of our project are to:

• Provide an intervention that elicits neuroplasticity in neurons.
• Calculate measurable markers for induced neuroplasticity. 

Project Implementation Method

Our project’s implementation method contains the following steps:

1. Literature Review: The very first thing in regards to starting a new project we need to work on our literature review. This said literature review was completed in order for us to make an acceptable data collection protocol, as our main goal is to collect data and then analyze it. However, literature review is something that will continue on throughout our project as it is heavily research based.
2. Data Acquisition Protocol: After careful scrutiny we came up with a protocol that highlighted our objectives clearly, i.e to calculate and illicit neuroplasticity in stroke patients by various interventions.
3. Data Collection: Once the Data Acquisition protocol was completely finalized we started our initial data collection and went to various appropriate locations to collect our data for our project. We did this by setting up our equipment and asking the patient to perform a movement on cue, which was then recorded for further analysis. This data will be collected twice, once before therapy and once after for full analysis.
4. Pre-Processin: While we were collecting data we already started our pre-processing and extracted the main ERCP’s and MRP’s required in our project.
5. Processing: Next, we will be processing our data and making it so that it is ready for analysis and for our scrutiny. The data is sorted through various filters and tools so that the data can be read easily and can be understood.  
6. Analysis: The data once processed will be easy to understand and for us to look at so that we can analyze it to prove our hypothesis by showing the achieved neuroplasticity with the improved hand movements after therapy.
7. Write Up: The last and final step is the write up which is in progress already. First chapter is focused on the introduction of the project. Second chapter is for the literature review. Third, fourth, and fifth chapter will be focused on the protocol design, data collection, and analysis respectively. The last chapter will include the results and conclusions.

Benefits of the Project

• Neuroplasticity can be referred to the brains ability to change, modify, and adapt to structure and functions of life. When we talk about neuroplasticity the best example that comes to mind is the brains ability to make new pathways n order to carry out daily tasks with ease.
• This project highlights the very importance of the new pathways made and the relation to motor movements made during and after an intervention, such as, physiotherapy.
• With improved neuroplasticity, the brain cell’s capacity also increases and can change them in order to help us to engage in such activities that can contribute to our well being no matter what our ages are.
• By analyzing and studying the improved neuroplasticity in stroke patients we can conclude that the brain can recover from strokes and injuries with the right motivation, therapy, and determination. When an area of the brain is damaged we can predict the rewiring of the brain pathways and observe increased memory and cognitive abilities.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

We are using a BCI system which consists of:

• EEG cap
• EEG amplifier
• Flex sensor
• DAQ card and Relay
• A laptop with MATLAB software
• A laptop with Neuroscan software

The 32 channel EEG cap and NuAMPs 40-channel digital EEG amplifier is imported from Newzland, which is better to record brain signals than a common 16 Channel EEG cap. High density EEG Caps are used with EEG machine together to examine a person's brain wave.Brain cells can transfer information,by using faint electrical pulses to detect and evaluate peoples brain activity. When patients is undergoing a EEG,electrodes on EEG maps are attached to his scalp. The electrodes transfer the activity of the electrical pulses to the EEG machine, which then presents the information, usually in the form of a graph. Cap is made up of highly elastic spandex fabric with sintered Ag/AgCl electrodes for precise signal transfer for lab research. 

NuAmps is a high-quality and inexpensive 40-channel digital EEG amplifier that is capable of 22 bit sampling at 1000Hz, measuring signals from DC to 260Hz. It is fully compatible with the SCAN and Curry software and includes a 12-bit trigger input port for synchronizing with external stimulators such as the Stim2 system for ERP measurements.

Final Deliverable of the Project HW/SW integrated systemCore Industry HealthOther Industries Medical Core Technology NeuroTechOther Technologies Augmented & Virtual Reality, OthersSustainable Development Goals Good Health and Well-Being for PeopleRequired Resources

Item Name	Type	No. of Units	Per Unit Cost (in Rs)	Total (in Rs)
			Total in (Rs)	80000
EEG cap and Amplifier	Equipment	2	35000	70000
Electrophoresis gel, Disposable electrodes, Transport expenses	Miscellaneous	5	2000	10000