Available evidence cited in the review indicates that motor imagery-based BCI training can improve quadriceps voluntary activation rate and reduce muscle strength loss after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, with potential intervention value in other orthopedic conditions. The authors suggest BCIs could become an important adjunct to conventional orthopedic rehabilitation, particularly for patients with central motor drive deficits. However, they note that clinical translation still faces challenges including insufficient mechanistic evidence, high patient heterogeneity, and lack of standardized training protocols, which represent key directions for future research.
The review was completed by researchers from the Department of Sports Medicine at the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, the School of Biomedical Science and Engineering at South China University of Technology, and the WU Xianming School of Intelligent Engineering.