Beatriz Silveira de Arruda - 21DOCS Test Area

Beatriz Silveira de Arruda

Postdoctoral Researcher at Hospital del Mar Research Institute

Beatriz Silveira de Arruda is a postdoctoral researcher in Prof. Rodrigo Quian Quiroga’s laboratory at the Hospital del Mar Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain, where she investigates memory and perception through single-cell recordings from the human temporal lobe. Beatriz completed her PhD in Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Oxford, UK, where she explored non-invasive phasic stimulation for tremor treatment and developed a wearable device for adaptive electrical stimulation at the wrist. Her PhD work was supervised by Prof. Hayriye Cagnan, Tim Denison, Huiling Tan, and Peter Brown. She holds a ScB (Honors) in Biomedical Engineering and Neuroscience from Brown University, USA. Her undergraduate honors thesis, supervised by Prof. David Borton, examined the kinematics of rhesus macaque locomotion. Her journey into neuroengineering and translational neuroscience began in 2016 at the Walk Again Project laboratory in São Paulo, Brazil, led by Prof. Miguel Nicolelis, where she conducted training sessions for spinal-cord-injured patients using EEG-controlled brain-computer interfaces.

Spain

Public Documents 1

Design and Validation of an Adaptable Phase-Tracking Algorithm for Parkinsonian Rest...

Beatriz S. Arruda

and 7 more

February 27, 2025

Tremor is the most common movement disorder and a prevalent symptom of neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson's disease (PD). Given the limitations of medication, which may not effectively treat tremor, and the limited availability of surgical treatments such as deep brain stimulation, there is a pressing clinical need for non-invasive therapeutic alternatives, including peripheral electrical stimulation. The high variability of PD tremor poses a challenge to such therapies and calls for patient-specific stimulation parameters. This study presents the design and validation of an adaptable algorithm for online tracking of Parkinsonian rest tremor phase, integrated into a wrist-worn system for use in triggering phase-specific peripheral electrical stimulation, delivered non-invasively to a nerve in the wrist. The system dynamically adapts to tremor variability, including shifts in the axis of maximum excursion and changes in center frequency. Validation was first performed offline, followed by online tests with a vibration plate providing stable frequencies, trials involving a healthy experimenter emulating tremor in different orientations while wearing the device, and evaluations with three individuals with PD. Results show accurate and robust phase estimation accounting for changes in tremor dominant axis and center frequency, underscoring the system's adaptability. This work provides a robust platform for research and a foundation for developing personalized, non-invasive tremor management strategies.