The case report, authored by Yunus Emre Doğan, describes three hemiplegic patients who underwent visually guided BCI combined with FES in addition to conventional rehabilitation. Each session consisted of a 30-minute preparation and a 30-minute treatment phase, five times a week for a total of 24 sessions. During the treatment phase, FES was triggered only when motor imagery-related EEG patterns were detected, enabling real-time patient engagement. Clinical outcomes, including Brunnstrom stages, Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA), and Barthel Index scores, were evaluated before and after the intervention, with improvements observed in all three cases.
The author suggests that visually guided BCI combined with FES may serve as an adjunctive rehabilitation approach for stroke patients with severe motor impairment, particularly those unable to actively participate in conventional rehabilitation. However, these preliminary findings should be interpreted cautiously, and further randomized controlled trials with larger sample sizes are required to validate clinical efficacy.