Stroke Recovery
Vision, speech, and motor function
Post-stroke vision loss affects up to 30% of survivors and over 1 million people in the U.S., yet lacks evidence-based therapies.
Led by experts in neurology, neurosurgery, and biomedical engineering, the Duke team is developing a noninvasive treatment that combines immersive virtual reality and low-intensity focused ultrasound. This approach harnesses neuroplasticity to retrain visual pathways adjacent to stroke-damaged brain regions.
Speech Restoration
Current therapies benefit only a small fraction of patients who experience loss of speech after stroke, leaving millions without a path to regain their voices. At Duke, we are advancing a transformative solution: a brain-computer interface that translates neural activity into audible speech. Led by faculty in the departments of Neurology, Biomedical Engineering, and Neurosurgery, this project harnesses signals from areas of the brain spared by stroke to synthesize speech in real time.
Movement Restoration
Movement loss is the most common and often most debilitating outcome of stroke, yet current rehabilitation options offer limited benefit, especially for those who have complete loss of hand function. At Duke, we are building on a successful pilot that pairs deep brain stimulation (DBS) with rehabilitation to reawaken motor pathways in the brain. Our goal is to scale this into a breakthrough therapy for patients in the subacute recovery window — 1 to 6 months post-stroke — when the brain is primed for repair.
Walking After Stroke
Regaining the ability to walk is one of the most critical goals for stroke survivors. At Duke, we are advancing a noninvasive solution to help patients reclaim this fundamental function. Our approach uses transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to target key motor pathways in the brain involved in walking. While TMS is already used to stimulate the corticospinal tract, walking also relies on a lesser-known system: the corticoreticulospinal tract. Currently, we do not have the tools to precisely locate or modulate this second system. Our project aims to change that.
Predicting Strokes
Duke faculty are advancing brain imaging to predict stroke risk and personalize care. A major contributor to stroke is intracranial atherosclerotic disease caused by plaque buildup that reduces or blocks blood flow inside the brain. Current tools are not sensitive or specific enough to guide timely intervention or tailor treatment to individual patients. At Duke, we are pioneering the development of novel neuroimaging markers that can noninvasively predict stroke risk, track disease progression, and inform treatment response in real time.
Engineering Hope: How Biomedical Innovation is Transforming Stroke Recovery
Since arriving at Duke in 2019, Wayne Feng, MD, professor of neurology and biomedical engineering, has built a leading stroke research and clinical care program centered in the Neuromodulation and Stroke Recovery Lab (NM‑SRL). His team is exploring non‑invasive brain stimulation methods to help with post‑stroke complications such as motor impairment, visual field deficits, and pain syndrome.
Read more about how Feng's lab is transforming post-stroke care.
Duke Center for Neurorestoration
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