Descrizione del progetto
Un’innovativa interfaccia neurale da portare sul mercato
L’interfaccia neurale è una tecnologia che consente la comunicazione diretta tra il cervello e un dispositivo esterno, spesso un arto protesico. Questa interfaccia facilita la traduzione dell’attività neurale in comandi che possono controllare questi dispositivi. Il progetto MYTI, finanziato dal Consiglio europeo della ricerca, prende le mosse dalla tecnologia sviluppata in precedenza, che utilizza magneti permanenti impiantati nei muscoli per decodificare le contrazioni muscolari e controllare le protesi degli arti superiori. Il progetto ottimizzerà i parametri tecnologici e l’impianto dei magneti, affrontando al contempo le varie sfide associate all’utilizzabilità a lungo termine dell’interfaccia neurale. Dopo un’ampia convalida della sperimentazione clinica, il team si preparerà alla commercializzazione della tecnologia.
Obiettivo
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.
Campo scientifico
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
HORIZON-ERC-POC - HORIZON ERC Proof of Concept GrantsIstituzione ospitante
56127 Pisa
Italia