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From Neurons to Robots: Non-Invasive, General-Purpose Interfacing With Human Spinal Motor Neurons

Objective

INTERSPINE (“From Neurons to Robots: Non-Invasive, General-Purpose Interfacing With Human Spinal Motor Neurons”) aims at exploiting the methodologies developed during the ERC Advanced grant DEMOVE (“Decoding the Neural Code of Human Movements for a New Generation of Man-machine Interfaces”). During DEMOVE, novel bioelectrodes and computational methods have been developed to enrich our fundamental understanding of the mechanisms underlying the generation of human movements, from the cellular level to the function. These methods also contributed to the development of new schemes for controlling bionic limbs to substitute missing ones in amputees. INTERSPINE will translate these methods, and specifically those based on non-implanted electrodes, to develop a more robust general system that extracts neural information (at the individual cell level) from the human spinal cord and transforms it into extremely accurate commands to external devices, such as prosthesis, general purpose and teleoperated robots, and computer interfaces. This will be the only non-invasive man-machine interface based on direct neural activity (spiking of neural cells). The ERC Grant DEMOVE demonstrated in laboratory conditions that this approach is feasible and allows the identification of the exact timing of each activation of neural cells in the spinal cord, known as motor neurons. INTERSPINE will extend this approach through wearable devices and real-time processing, as well as with a robust association between the identified neural activity and external commands to devices, with the aim of revolutionizing everyday man-machine interfacing. The direct decoding of neural activity will provide unprecedented accuracy and robustness with respect to other non-invasive approaches.

Keywords: man-machine interfacing; motor neurons; electromyography (EMG); prosthesis; movement; spinal cord; muscles; motor control.

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

ERC-POC - Proof of Concept Grant

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) ERC-2016-PoC

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Host institution

IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINE
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 150 000,00
Address
SOUTH KENSINGTON CAMPUS EXHIBITION ROAD
SW7 2AZ London
United Kingdom

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Region
London Inner London — West Westminster
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 150 000,00

Beneficiaries (1)

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