Upper limb motor impairment following stroke – assessment and patient-specific rehabilitation treatment

Stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability and most individuals with stroke present upper limb sensorimotor deficits that persist into the chronic stage despite technological advances in rehabilitation methods. For reducing long-term impairment there is a need for increased understanding of the underlying mechanisms that drive recovery following stroke as well as the early factors that predict recovery. This understanding is a precondition for effective clinical decision-making and for the timely selection of the patient-specific, most appropriate rehabilitation intervention. The talk will present advanced measures for quantifying complex impairment based on data driven models along with theory-based rehabilitation methods utilizing manipulators and virtual reality for patient-specific rehabilitation treatment. 

Bio: Sigal Berman is an associate professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva. She received a B.Sc. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, from the Technion, an M.Sc. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, and a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering, both from Ben-Gurion University. Sigal leads the Intelligent Systems Engineering Laboratory (ISEL) where her research focuses on the analysis and engineering of intelligent systems capable of dexterous motion. She develops data-driven models for the synthesis of robotic motion and the analysis of human motion.