(8 September, 2016) Researchers from all around the world gather in Geneva to discuss new frontiers in neuro-rehabilitation. The Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies of Pisa will be the protagonist of the IBSA Foundation for scientific research, “New technologies to treat neurodisorders: neuroprosthetics”. Avant-garde prostheses that are ‘caress proof’ that increasingly resemble human limbs that will improve sensibility and quality of life for millions of patients and also new therapies based on cerebral stimulation that are capable of curing extremely common diseases such as diabetes, obesity, infertility and cancer. These are a few of the new developments that are the result of the research carried out in Pisa which will be presented tomorrow, September 9, at the Biotech Campus of Geneva, where the experts in this field will gather. Professor Silvestro Micera, from the Biorobotics instituete of the Sant’Anna School of Pisa and the director of the Translational Neural Engineering Unit of the Polytechnic of Lausanne, Switzerland (EPFL, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) announces: “We have achieved at the peak of our years of research. Neurotechnology today is able to offer important advantages to a great number of patients. For example, we are able to help people with neurological disabilities such as stroke, Parkinson’s disease, spinal chord injuries or hand amputations. We are in the process of developing a bionic hand with the same dexterity as a human hand that is capable of delicate movements with a great tactile sensibility. Tomorrow’s challenge will be to understand whether it is possible to give patients with these types of disabilities a natural sensibility and whether this will facilitate the so-called ‘embodiment’. In other words, a greater capacity to control limbs and to discern different textures. This will ultimately allow the patient to better control the prosthetics and to once again carry out daily tasks after experiencing an accident or an illness”. (Red)
