Prof. Dr. Joachim Hermsdörfer has completed a two-month research visit in Chicago. From the beginning of April to the beginning of June the Full Professor of the Chair of Movement Sciences visited Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC). The Institute is one of the most prestigious research facilities in the United States in the field of rehabilitation for strokes, paralysis and amputation."
The visit has fully confirmed my expectations. I could gain an interesting insight on which issues are undergoing research there and observe how research groups in the United States are run. In addition, I was able to meet and learn to know many people, a few of which I had only known of in the past from publications. And with whom we could carry out joint projects in the future," stated Prof. Hermsdörfer.
United States: Intensive neurorehabilitative focus on brain-machine interfaces
The RIC combines a clinic, in which about 500 patients are being treated, and different groups of researchers. Among these is the "sensory motor performance program" with approximately 80 scientists. Motor disorder in neurological diseases and therapeutic approaches of engineering are the main field of employment. "Thematically, there is a great deal of overlapping, but also certain differences between our research and the approach in the EU as compared with that used in the US approach," as analyzed by the Professor of the Chair of Movement Science.
In the United States, a strong focus is placed on the "brain-machine interface", i.e. the control of machines - or prostheses - through the brain. Great weight is also placed the theoretical modeling, for example through the description of movements using computer algorithms. Prof. Dr. David Franklin, appointed to the Faculty of Sports and Health Sciences of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in February, is doing research in this field.
The main interest of European neurorehabilitation research differs from these approaches. "We determine instead how machines can be used as a support in rehabilitation or to what extent improvements may possibly be achieved through external brain stimulation," explains Hermsdörfer.
Two congresses, further research visits
During his visit to the United States, the Professor of the Chair of Movement Science attended two conferences. The World Congress for Neurorehabilitation, held in Philadelphia and, in Jamaica, the annual meeting of the Society for the Neural Control of Movement.
At the end of June Hermsdörfer will complete a further research visit. He will then spend two weeks visiting the Institut des Systèmes Intelligents et de Robotique of the University Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris.
To the homepage of the Chair for Movement Sciences
To the homepage of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC)
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Joachim Hermsdörfer
Chair for Movement sciences
Uptown Munich, Campus D
Georg-Brauchle Ring 60/62
80992 Munich
Telephone 089 289 24550
Email: Joachim.Hermsdoerfer(at)tum.de
Text: Fabian Kautz
Photos: Prof. Hermsdörfer; TUM