Objective Over 60 million of citizens in the EU suffer from hearing loss with its associated restrictions. In severe cases, hearing can only be restored by surgically implanting a neuroprosthesis called cochlear implant, which directly stimulates the auditory nerve.The bottleneck for optimal stimulation is caused by the anatomical gap between the electrode array and the auditory neurons in the inner ear. As a consequence, current devices are limited through (i) low frequency resolution, hence poor sound quality and (ii), strong signal amplification, hence high energy consumption responsible for significant battery costs and for impeding the development of fully implantable systems. Recent findings indicate that auditory nerve fibres can grow under neurotrophin stimulation towards the electrodes, which opens the door to address all issues simultaneously.NANOCI aims at developing a neuroprosthesis with a gapless interface to auditory nerve fibres. The neurites will be attracted and guided by an innovative, nanostructured gel matrix containing diffusible and surface-bound neurotrophic compounds towards the functionalized, neurotrophic electrode array surface. The long-lasting operation without interface degradation, reduced biofouling and improved conductivity will be achieved by nanostructuring the array surface using (i) various functional nanomaterials, including carbon nanotubes, combined with (ii) structuration methodologies such as ion implantation and sacrificial nanoparticle embedding in parylene, SOLID (solid on liquid deposition) encapsulation, and sonochemistry. Components will be validated using appropriate bioassays including human auditory neurons in vitro. In parallel, software models will be developed to exploit the bidirectional, gapless interface. Fusing all developments, an animal-grade, pilot nanoCI-device is manufactured and tested in vivo. This will allow to assess the feasibility of a future, cost-efficient, and fully implantable neuroprosthesis with substantially increased sound quality. Fields of science natural sciencescomputer and information sciencessoftwareengineering and technologynanotechnologynano-materials Programme(s) FP7-NMP - Specific Programme "Cooperation": Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and new Production Technologies Topic(s) NMP.2011.1.4-4 - Nanotechnology based implantable and interfaceable devices Call for proposal FP7-NMP-2011-SMALL-5 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme CP-FP - Small or medium-scale focused research project Coordinator UNIVERSITAET BERN Address Hochschulstrasse 6 3012 Bern Switzerland See on map Region Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera Espace Mittelland Bern / Berne Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact Pascal Senn (Dr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window EU contribution No data Participants (8) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all EBERHARD KARLS UNIVERSITAET TUEBINGEN Germany EU contribution € 539 150,00 Address Geschwister-scholl-platz 72074 Tuebingen See on map Region Baden-Württemberg Tübingen Tübingen, Landkreis Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact Hubert Loewenheim (Dr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Other funding No data UPPSALA UNIVERSITET Sweden EU contribution € 316 044,00 Address Von kraemers alle 4 751 05 Uppsala See on map Region Östra Sverige Östra Mellansverige Uppsala län Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact Siv Utterberg (Ms.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Other funding No data TAMPEREEN YLIOPISTO Finland EU contribution € 364 800,00 Address Kalevantie 4 33014 Tampere See on map Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact Susanna Airila (Ms.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Other funding No data HAUTE ECOLE SPECIALISEE DE SUISSE OCCIDENTALE Switzerland EU contribution € 590 902,00 Address Route de moutier 14 2800 Delemont See on map Region Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera Espace Mittelland Jura Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact Herbert Keppner (Prof.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Other funding No data BAR ILAN UNIVERSITY Israel EU contribution € 415 068,00 Address Bar ilan university campus 52900 Ramat gan See on map Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact Estelle Waise (Ms.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Other funding No data EMC MICROCOLLECTIONS GMBH Germany EU contribution € 278 800,00 Address Sindelfinger str. 3 72070 Tuebingen See on map Region Baden-Württemberg Tübingen Tübingen, Landkreis Activity type Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Administrative Contact Renate Spohn (Dr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Other funding No data MED-EL ELEKTROMEDIZINISCHE GERATE GMBH Austria EU contribution € 316 233,00 Address Furstenweg 77 a 6020 Innsbruck See on map Region Westösterreich Tirol Innsbruck Activity type Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Administrative Contact Ingeborg Hochmair (Prof.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Other funding No data SCIPROM SARL Switzerland EU contribution € 121 100,00 Address Rue du centre 70 1025 Saint sulpice See on map Region Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera Région lémanique Vaud Activity type Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Administrative Contact Peter Ulrich (Dr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Other funding No data
