Description du projet
Commercialiser une interface cerveau-machine innovante
L’interface cerveau-machine (ICM) est une technologie qui permet une communication directe entre le cerveau et un dispositif externe, souvent une prothèse de membre. Cette interface facilite la transposition de l’activité neuronale en commandes qui peuvent contrôler ces dispositifs. Financé par le Conseil européen de la recherche, le projet MYTI s’appuie sur la technologie ICM développée précédemment, qui fait appel à des aimants permanents implantés dans les muscles pour décoder les contractions musculaires et contrôler les prothèses des membres supérieurs. Le projet se propose d’optimiser les paramètres technologiques et les implantations d’aimants tout en relevant les différents défis associés à l’utilisation à long terme de l’ICM. Après la validation par des essais cliniques approfondis, l’équipe préparera la commercialisation de la technologie.
Objectif
MYTI - MYokinetic Towards Innovation, aims at boosting the clinical translation of the technology developed within the ERC funded project MYKI - A Bidirectional MyoKinetic Implanted Interface for Natural Control of Artificial Limbs. Core of the project is an innovative human-machine-interface for the control of upper-limb prostheses, which relies on a multitude of permanent magnets implanted within the residual muscles. Briefly, external electronic components acquire the magnetic field of the magnets, retrieve their displacement resulting from muscle contraction, and subsequently decode the user’s intention to control multiple degrees of freedom of the prosthesis in a natural and intuitive way. The MYKI project led to the successful first-in-human clinical demonstration of the interface: one participant received the short-term (six-week) implantation of multiple magnets and was fitted with a self-contained myokinetic prosthesis. In just six weeks, the participant achieved performance comparable to those achieved with standard-of-care solutions. Building on the know-how acquired within MYKI, MYTI will address the weaknesses uncovered by past research, and push forward the advancement of the solution for its adoption into standard-of-care settings. Practically, it will address the open challenges related to the long-term usability of the interface, to enable extensive long-term clinical trials necessary to validate the technology, while laying the foreground for its future commercialization.
The translation from research towards innovation will be achieved through three main objectives: (i) the identification of a magnet coating material suitable for chronic applications; (ii) the effective insertion of the magnets inside the muscles, through the development of a dedicated surgical injector to be used under ultrasound guidance; (iii) the conduction of an in-depth market research and the definition of an IPR strategy aimed at the future technology commercialization.
Champ scientifique
Mots‑clés
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Régime de financement
HORIZON-ERC-POC - HORIZON ERC Proof of Concept GrantsInstitution d’accueil
56127 Pisa
Italie