The third AI lab at Radboud University investigates the opportunities of AI in the neurotech.

Deaf people who can hear again, blind people who can see, paralyzed people who can move again: the objectives of the third Nijmegen AI-lab are by no means small. By means of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and implants, the brain would not only be able to pick up the mental control of the body again but could do the same for its senses.

Looking, feeling, hearing, smelling, controlled movement: these are essential functions in a person’s life. Those who miss them are literally limited in their functioning. Restoring these kinds of functions is the main objective of the Donders ICAI-lab, which was opened in June at the Radboud University in Nijmegen. In doing so, the lab draws on recent developments in various disciplines, which together offer new perspectives on major advances in neurotechnology. The AI solutions devised here should also open up important new areas for the business community. Hence the close collaboration between research, government, and entrepreneurship within the Donders AI For Neurotech Lab.

ICAI Labs

Radboud University has been researching AI, Artificial Intelligence, since the late eighties. The ICAI (Innovation Center for Artificial Intelligence) labs in Nijmegen are developing techniques specifically aimed at the medical world. ICAI is a national network focused on developing technology and talent in the field of Artificial Intelligence. Radboud University opened the first two ICAI labs in 2019. The Netherlands now has fifteen; in Amsterdam, Delft, Den Bosch, Eindhoven, Nijmegen, and in Utrecht. Each ICAI lab has its own specialty.

According to Marcel van Gerven, scientific director of the Donders ICAI lab, AI is important for innovation and a way to gain insight and influence on, for example, human cognition. Also in this corona era, these developments are still moving science forward. Van Gerven: “In Nijmegen, there are more and more collaborations with Radboud University in the field of, for example, brain-computer interfacing. People with the so-called locked-in syndrome who are totally paralyzed can still communicate with the help of a computer.”

Brain implants

An example is a headset that measures brain activity. To develop this, a lot of research needs to be done into how the brain works. Van Gerven: “We mainly focus on the use of brain implants, but in Nijmegen, a lot of research is also being done into EEG. This is a method to measure the electrical activity of the brain. It is a non-invasive procedure, in which the electrodes are usually stuck to the scalp.”

AI can be used much more widely. “Think of solutions to restore the visual perception of blind people. Or to develop methods that can control muscles, suppress epileptic seizures, and help paralyzed people to communicate. We don’t focus on the development of the implants themselves, but on the AI that controls them.”

International collaborations

To achieve all this, Radboud University works together with national and international institutes and companies, such as the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NIN), UMC Utrecht, TU Delft, Eindhoven University of Technology, and universities in Belgium, Germany, and Spain. Within the Donders lab itself, there is a collaboration with organizations such as Phosphoenix, Advanced Bionics, Oneplanet Research Center and Abbott.

“At the moment, research is being conducted into implants that are inserted directly into the brains of blind people, giving them, albeit limited, more vision. Tests have already been done on patients who have finally been able to see something again. This is all still at an early stage, but the first signs are hopeful.”

Full Story: https://innovationorigins.com/artificial-intelligence-for-the-recovery-of-essential-body-functions/

https://intechanalytica.com
Do you like Gemechu Taye's articles? Follow on social!
Comments to: Artificial intelligence for the recovery of essential body functions

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Attach images - Only PNG, JPG, JPEG and GIF are supported.

Good Reads

When urban development takes place, a traffic impact assessment is often needed before a project is approved: What will happen to auto traffic if a new apartment building or business complex is constructed, or if a road is widened? On the other hand, new developments affect foot traffic as well — and yet few places study the effects of urban change on pedestrians.

Worlwide

When urban development takes place, a traffic impact assessment is often needed before a project is approved: What will happen to auto traffic if a new apartment building or business complex is constructed, or if a road is widened? On the other hand, new developments affect foot traffic as well — and yet few places study the effects of urban change on pedestrians.
This week, The European Parliament, the body responsible for adopting European Union (EU) legislation, passed a non-binding resolution calling for a ban on law enforcement use of facial recognition technology in public places. The resolution, which also proposes a moratorium on the deployment of predictive policing software, would restrict the use of remote biometric identification unless it’s to fight “serious” crime, such as kidnapping and terrorism.

Trending

WHEN SARTRE SAID hell is other people, he wasn’t living through 2020. Right now, other people are the only thing between us and species collapse. Not just the people we occasionally encounter behind fugly masks—but the experts and innovators out in the world, leading the way. The 17-year-old hacker building his own coronavirus tracker. The […]
13 September marks six months since the first coronavirus announced in Ethiopia.In the half-year since then, reported cases are close to 64 Thousend, with more than 996 deaths. At the onset, COVID-19 mainly affected the capital city. However, the virus is now moving from high-density urban areas to informal settlements and then onward to rural […]
Present international artificial intelligence (AI) inventory and progression in self-driving vehicle research and development Complementary subjects in technology are also artificial intelligence ( AI) and self-driving vehicles. In brief, without someone involved, you just can’t debate one. While AI has been rapidly applied in different areas, a new hot topic has been the way you […]

Login

Welcome to Intech Analytica

AI news hub. It checks trusted sites and collects best pieces of AI info.
Join Intech Analytica

Agree the terms of use.