Neuroprosthetics Research Group (NRG)
News
December 15, 2012: Dr. Sanchez received the Johnson A. Edosomwan Researcher of the Year Award
October 22, 2012: Dr. Sanchez will be giving a TED talk on "Beyond Bionics." The event will be focused on Framing the Future. (view article)
October 15, 2012: We are working to extend the long-term performance profiles of chronic implnated microelectrode arrays for human neuroprosthetic applications. A new publication on the comprehensive characterization of electrode performance was just published in the Journal of Neural Engineering. Abiotic factors are playing a large role in the performance. (view article)
October 7, 2012: The clinical paper for our Tourette DBS study was published in the JAMA journal Archives of Neurology. (view article)
September 6, 2012: We have made a groundbreaking discovery in the therapeutic use of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) in the treatment of Tourette syndrome in humans. In this study, we used a fully implantable, closed-loop system for DBS and found specific neuronal markers for long-term tic expression. These findings could pave the way for novel responsive neuromodulation in the future. (view article)
March 23, 2012: Our paper on long-term electrode performance was just published in the Journal of Neural Engineering. Electrode performance can be predicted from impedance measurements and can be used as a failure mitigation marker. (view article)
March 15, 2012: Check our two new articles in IEEE PULSE that cover our work with DARPA - Article 1: (view article) and Article 2 (view article)
December 3, 2011: Dr. Sanchez received the Eliahu I. Jury Early Career Research Award
June 24, 2011: Dr. Sanchez was recently on the This Week in Tech Network on the show Futures in Biotech discussing work on Symbiotic Brain-Machine Interfaces (link)
May 19, 2011: Dr. Sanchez was recently elected to the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Administrative Committee. (link)
Mission
The Neuroprosthetic Research Group (NRG) was founded in 2005 by Dr. Justin C. Sanchez. The goal of the NRG is to develop state-of-the-art symbiotic BIONIC medical treatments. This direction of research is motivated by the potential of neuroprosthetics or direct neural interfaces for delivering therapy and restoring functionality to disabled individuals. The lab's mission is focused on "bench to bedside" science to innovate medical neuroprosthesis devices and translate them into the clinic. Two clinical outcomes of the lab’s mission are to restore communication control ability to the motor impaired. In this mission, we study motor and limbic neurophysiology and develop interface technology to respond to normal and abnormal neural function.
Expertise
The expertise to develop "beyond state-of-the-art" neural interface technology requires a highly multidisciplinary knowledge base. In the NRG, we take a "Renaissance man" approach to science and have developed an extensive track record over the years in the following areas.
Neurophysiology (Motor and Limbic Neural Coding)
The NRG is a neurophysiology lab. We conduct chronic multielectrode recordings in behaving subjets. We perform stereotaxic neurosurgery and chronically implant neural interfaces to sample large populations of neurons. These signals are then used in closed-loop neural interface studies.
In this area, we are uncovering the fundamental principles of neural coding in systems of neurons. This knowledge is used to develop new therapies.
System Design (Symbiotic Neural Interfaces)
The NRG lab has lead innovations in neuroprosthetic system design. We have developed emergent systems where the user and neuroprosthetic cooperatively seek to maximize goals while interacting with a complex, dynamical environment. Both the user and the neuroprosthetic are in a symbiotic relationship where they solve tasks in an assistive manner.
Neurotechnology
The NRG is working to develop implantable and wearable neural interfaces that will ultimately make neuroprosthetics more feasible in clinical implementation.
Ultimately, it will take the culmination of new functional neurophysiologic knowledge, conputational neuroscience, and neurotechnology to demonstrate the clinical utility for human subjects.
For our latest scientific advancements see the publications sections. We would like to also announce the release of our new book from Morgan and Claypool Publishersers titled Brain-Machine Interface Engineering.
Contact
The Neuroprosthetics Research Group was founded by Justin C. Sanchez, Ph.D. The NRG laboratory is located within the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Miami. Please send all correspondence to 1251 Memorial Drive, MEA 203, Coral Gables, Florida, 33146, the phone number is (305) 284-2330.
Unique visitors since 12/05:
