Mapping the brain-spinal cord interaction towards understanding and treatment of movement disorders

Información del proyecto

Move2Treat

Identificador del acuerdo de subvención: 101130161

DOI

10.3030/101130161

Fecha de la firma de la CE 18 Diciembre 2023

Fecha de inicio 1 Julio 2024

Fecha de finalización 30 Junio 2027

Financiado con arreglo a

• The European Innovation Council (EIC)

Coste total

€ 2 996 048,75

Aportación de la UE

€ 2 996 048,75

Coordinado por

DANMARKS TEKNISKE UNIVERSITET
Denmark

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Move2Treat (Mapping the brain-spinal cord interaction towards understanding and treatment of movement disorders)

Período documentado: 2024-07-01 hasta 2025-06-30

Resumen del contexto y de los objetivos generales del proyecto

Movement is one of the most important activities in our everyday life. It is an essential element for maintaining overall health and well-being, with more than 1 billion people globally suffering from a neurological disease that directly affects their movement. Each year, more than 1.5 million people experience a stroke in the EU alone leading to death, paralysis, or some kind of disability; this is a significant burden on healthcare systems with no cure. We must address the questions: How do we move? What is the underlying physical mechanism of the brain-spinal cord interaction that orchestrates the generation of movement? To be able to answer those, a high-performance bi-directional interface is required.
Move2Treat explores disruptive science by developing a new brain-spinal cord interface to investigate the associated neuronal circuits. In fact, Move2Treat has 3 distinct breakthroughs: (1) a novel theory on movement generation by rotating ensembles validation the neuronal population activity across central brain regions and the spinal cord. (2) A bi-directional soft-fiber platform as neural interface to brain and spinal cord in freely behaving species. (3) Validation of theory (1) and neural interface (2) in the disease models. The developed theory and implant enable the “next-generation pacemaker of the nervous system” based on the first complete, minimally invasive, wireless, biocompatible and soft multifunctional fiber-based neural interface to map the brain-spinal cord activity by simultaneous stimulation/recording in vivo and real-time with high spatial and temporal resolution. Move2Treat is a European approach to establish technological sovereignty, delivering the “next-generation precision sensing for neurological science”.

Trabajo realizado desde el comienzo del proyecto hasta el final del período abarcado por el informe y los principales resultados hasta la fecha

The Move2Treat consortium has already the year 1 of the project successfully:
1. Identified the required optical material with the optimum characteristics to develop the optoelectronic fiber implant
2. Inscribed structures with fs pulses in bulk polymer materials defining the optimum parameters
3. Investigate the durability of different polymer fibers in acceleration aging
4. Finalize the design of a first tethered prototype of the neural interface packaging
5. Initiate experiments in the spinal cord of rodents using infrared neural stimulation.

Avances que van más allá del estado de la técnica e impacto potencial esperado (incluida la repercusión socioeconómica y las implicaciones sociales más amplias del proyecto hasta la fecha)

- DTU has identified novel ultra-soft polymer materials for the development of ultra-flexible optical fibers. Further research is required
- DTU developed the first step-index polycarbonate optical fiber with loss <5 dB/m over specific spectral bands.
- Inscription of FBG in multimaterial optical fibers with integrated microfluidic channels and metal wires achieved for the first time - preliminary results.