Conceptual design of a functional electrical stimulation cycling platform as a rehabilitation therapy for spinal cord injury or stroke

Stroke and spinal cord injuries (SCI) are leading causes of disability worldwide, involving problems in mobility, balance and coordination, among others. While aerobic exercise is associated with a greater plasticity in the motor cortex of healthy individuals, its effect on neuroplasticity after suffer- ing a stroke or a SCI is still unknown. Besides, there is no methodology to promote both cardiovascular and neuroplastic recovery in patients suffering from neurological injuries. Up to now, it has been demonstrated that physical exercise is a therapeutic intervention in many rehabilitation programs that, apart from providing clear benefits related to the phys- ical conditioning, functionality, mood and cardiovascular health, it could also promote neuroplasticity. The literature suggests that stronger neuroplastic responses are elicited in mid-to-high intensity training programs, but the lack of homogeneity in the dose-response and the non-uniform eval- uations of the neuroplasticity seem to be a limitation to gen- eralise the obtained results. The combination of functional electrical stimulation (FES) with the benefits of cardiovas- cular exercise makes cycling assisted by FES a promising approach to target both the aerobic capacity and the neu- romotor function. The objective of this project is to prove that aerobic exercise during personalized FES-cycling could contribute to enhance the process of neuroplasticity, and to maintain locomotor and cardiovascular function in patients with stroke or spinal cord injury.