The Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK) has unveiled the world’s first Brain-Computer Interface (BCI)-based Robotic Hand Exoskeleton, a groundbreaking innovation set to revolutionize stroke rehabilitation. This technology promises to accelerate recovery and improve patient outcomes by redefining post-stroke therapy. Developed over 15 years of rigorous research led by Prof. Ashish Dutta from IIT Kanpur’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, the project was supported by India’s Department of Science and Technology (DST), UK India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI), and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

The BCI-based robotic hand exoskeleton utilizes a unique closed-loop control system to actively engage the patient’s brain during therapy. It integrates three key components: a Brain-Computer Interface that captures EEG signals from the motor cortex to detect the patient’s intent to move, a robotic hand exoskeleton that assists with therapeutic hand movements, and software that synchronizes brain signals with the exoskeleton for real-time feedback. This coordination helps foster continuous brain engagement, leading to faster and more effective recovery.

“Stroke recovery is a long and often uncertain process. Our device bridges the gap between physical therapy, brain engagement, and visual feedback creating a closed-loop control system that activates brain plasticity, which is the brain’s ability to change its structure and function in response to stimuli,” said Prof. Ashish Dutta. “This is especially significant for patients whose recovery has plateaued, as it offers renewed hope for further improvement and regaining mobility. With promising results in both India and the UK, we are optimistic that this device will make a significant impact in the field of neurorehabilitation.”

Traditional stroke recovery often faces challenges, especially when motor impairments stem from damage to the motor cortex. Conventional physiotherapy methods may fall short due to limited brain involvement. The new device addresses this gap by linking brain activity with physical movement. During therapy, patients are guided on-screen to perform hand movements, such as opening or closing their fist, while EEG signals from the brain and EMG signals from the muscles are used to activate the robotic exoskeleton in an assist-as-required mode. This synchronization ensures the brain, muscles, and visual engagement work together, improving recovery outcomes.

Pilot clinical trials, conducted in collaboration with Regency Hospital in India and the University of Ulster in the UK, have yielded impressive results. Remarkably, eight patients—four in India and four in the UK—who had reached a recovery plateau one or two years post-stroke achieved full recovery through the BCI-based robotic therapy. The device’s active engagement of the brain during therapy has proven to lead to faster and more comprehensive recovery compared to traditional physiotherapy.

While stroke recovery is typically most effective within the first six to twelve months, this innovative device has demonstrated its ability to facilitate recovery even beyond this critical period. With large-scale clinical trials underway at Apollo Hospitals in India, the device is expected to be commercially available within three to five years, offering new hope for stroke patients worldwide.

Rajagopala Chidambaram, a world-class physicist and the chief architect of India’s nuclear program, passed away on January 4, 2025, at the age of 88. Renowned for his unparalleled contributions to India’s nuclear defense and energy security, Chidambaram leaves a profound legacy in both the scientific community and the nation’s strategic defense apparatus.

Born on November 11, 1936, in India, Dr. Chidambaram was an alumnus of Presidency College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, and the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, Karnataka. His academic background, coupled with his innate curiosity and vision, led him to become one of India’s foremost scientific minds. Throughout his illustrious career, Dr. Chidambaram played an instrumental role in shaping India’s nuclear capabilities, overseeing both the Pokhran-I (1974) and Pokhran-II (1998) nuclear tests, which cemented India’s position as a nuclear power on the world stage.

As a physicist, Dr. Chidambaram’s groundbreaking research in high-pressure physics, crystallography, and materials science greatly advanced the understanding of these fields. His pioneering work laid the foundation for modern materials science research in India, contributing to the nation’s scientific progress in multiple areas. His expertise in these complex disciplines not only bolstered India’s nuclear research but also advanced its technological prowess.

In addition to his work in nuclear weapons development, Dr. Chidambaram made significant strides in nuclear energy, ensuring that India remained at the forefront of scientific and technological advancements. As Director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and later as Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India, he was integral to India’s peaceful nuclear energy initiatives. As Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, Dr. Chidambaram guided national policies on defense, energy, and nuclear research, shaping the future of India’s scientific endeavors.

He was a vital member of the team that conducted India’s first nuclear test, Smiling Buddha, at Pokhran in 1974. His leadership during the Pokhran-II tests in 1998, which confirmed India’s nuclear deterrent, was a defining moment in the nation’s history. Chidambaram’s steadfast commitment to India’s defense and scientific advancement earned him respect both at home and abroad.

A visionary leader, Dr. Chidambaram believed in the power of science and technology to drive national development. His efforts were instrumental in championing key initiatives in energy, healthcare, and strategic self-reliance. He steered numerous projects that significantly advanced India’s science and technology landscape. Notably, he played a central role in the indigenous development of supercomputers and was the driving force behind the conceptualization of the National Knowledge Network, which connected research and educational institutions across India.

Dr. Chidambaram was also an ardent advocate for the application of science and technology to improve societal conditions. He established the Rural Technology Action Groups and the Society for Electronic Transactions and Security, among other programs. His emphasis on “Coherent Synergy” in India’s scientific efforts helped foster collaboration across various disciplines, accelerating the country’s scientific growth.

On the global stage, Dr. Chidambaram served as the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 1994-1995 and contributed to several high-level international nuclear discussions. His expertise was sought worldwide, and in 2008, he was appointed to the Commission of Eminent Persons by the IAEA to assess the agency’s role in nuclear governance.

He was a vital member of the team that conducted India’s first nuclear test, Smiling Buddha, at Pokhran in 1974

In recognition of his exceptional contributions to science and national development, Dr. Chidambaram received several prestigious accolades, including the Padma Shri in 1975 and the Padma Vibhushan in 1999. He was also awarded honorary doctorates from several universities and was a fellow of several eminent Indian and international scientific academies.

Dr. Chidambaram’s passing marks the end of an era for India’s nuclear program and the global scientific community. His legacy as a scientist, visionary leader, and architect of India’s nuclear journey will continue to inspire future generations. His contributions to national security, energy, and technological innovation have left an indelible mark on India’s scientific and strategic landscape.

Rajagopala Chidambaram’s profound impact on India’s nuclear and scientific trajectory will be remembered for generations to come. His work in advancing both national defense and the peaceful use of nuclear energy stands as a testament to his vision of a self-reliant, scientifically empowered India.

“Deeply saddened by the demise of Dr Rajagopala Chidambaram. He was one of the key architects of India’s nuclear programme and made ground-breaking contributions in strengthening India’s scientific and strategic capabilities. He will be remembered with gratitude by the whole nation and his efforts will inspire generations to come,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on X.

Dr. Ajit Kumar Mohanty, Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy, in a statement issued, said,  “Dr. Chidambaram was a doyen of science and technology whose contributions furthered India’s nuclear prowess and strategic self-reliance. His loss is an irreparable one for the scientific community and the nation.”

It’s 1924, and Satyendra Nath Bose, going by S.N. Bose was a young physicist teaching in Dhaka, then British India. Grappled by an epiphany, he was desperate to have his solution, fixing a logical inconsistency in Planck’s radiation law, get published. He had his eyes on the British Philosophical Magazine, since word could spread to the leading physicists of the time, most if not all in Europe. But the paper was rejected without any explanations offered. 

But he wasn’t going to give up just yet. Unrelenting, he sent another sealed envelope with his draft and this time a cover letter again, to Europe. One can imagine months later, Bose breathing out a sigh of relief when he finally got a positive response – from none other than the great man of physics himself – Albert Einstein. 

In some ways, Bose and Einstein were similar. Both had no PhDs when they wrote their treatises that brought them into limelight. And Einstein introduced E=mc² derived from special relativity with little fanfare, so did Bose who didn’t secure a publisher with his groundbreaking work that invented quantum statistics. He produced a novel derivation of the Planck radiation law, from the first principles of quantum theory. 

This was a well-known problem that had plagued physicists since Max Planck, the father of quantum physics himself. Einstein himself had struggled time and again, to only have never resolved the problem. But Bose did, and too nonchalantly with a simple derivation from first principles grounded in quantum theory. For those who know some quantum theory, I’m referring to Bose’s profound recognition that the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution that holds true for ideal gasses, fails for quantum particles. A technical treatment of the problem would reveal that photons, that are particles of light with the same energy and polarization, are indistinguishable from each other, as a result of the Pauli exclusion principle and Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle. 

Fascinatingly, last July marked the 100 years since Einstein submitted Bose’s paper, “Planck’s law and the quantum hypothesis” on his behalf to Zeitschrift fur Physik.

Fascinated and moved by what he read, Einstein was magnanimous enough to have Bose’s paper translated in German and published in the journal, Zeitschrift für Physik in Germany the same year. It would be the beginning of a brief, but productive professional collaboration between the two theoretical physicists, that would just open the doors to the quantum world much wider. Fascinatingly, last July marked the 100 years since Einstein submitted Bose’s paper, “Planck’s law and the quantum hypothesis” on his behalf to Zeitschrift fur Physik. 

With the benefit of hindsight, Bose’s work was really nothing short of revolutionary for its time. However, a Nobel Committee member, the Swedish Oskar Klein – and theoretical physicist of repute – deemed it a mere advance in applied sciences, rather than a major conceptual advance. With hindsight again, it’s a known fact that Nobel Prizes are handed in for quantum jumps in technical advancements more than ever before. In fact, the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physics went to Carl Wieman, Eric Allin Cornell, and Wolfgang Ketterle for synthesizing the Bose-Einstein condensate, a prediction made actually by Einstein based on Bose’s new statistics. These condensates are created when atoms are cooled to near absolute zero temperature, thus attaining the quantum ground state. Atoms at this state possess some residual energy, or zero-point energy, marking a macroscopic phase transition much like a fourth state of matter in its own right. 

Such were the changing times that Bose’s work received much attention gradually. To Bose himself, he was fine without a Nobel, saying, “I have got all the recognition I deserve”. A modest character and gentleman, he resonates a lot with the mental image of a scientist who’s a servant to the scientific discipline itself.

He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the highest civilian award by the Government of India in 1954. Institutes have been named in his honour, but despite this, his reputation has little if no mention at all in public discourse. 

But what’s more upsetting is that, Bose is still a bit of a stranger in India, where he was born and lived. He studied physics at the Presidency College, Calcutta under the tutelage that saw other great Indian physicists, including Jagdish Chandra Bose and Meghnad Saha. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the highest civilian award by the Government of India in 1954. Institutes have been named in his honour, but despite this, his reputation has little if no mention at all in public discourse. 

To his physicists’ peers in his generation and beyond, he was recognized in scientific lexicology. Paul Dirac, the British physicist coined the name ‘bosons’ in Bose’s honor (‘bose-on’). These refer to quantum particles including photons and others with integer quantum spins, a formulation that arose only because of Bose’s invention of quantum statistics. In fact, the media popular, ‘god particle’, the Higgs boson, carries a bit of Bose as much as it does of Peter Higgs who shared the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics with Francois Euglert for producing the hypothesis.