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SUMMARY:DLN: Towards the development of a Cortical Visual Neuroprosthesis 
 for the blind: Challenges and future prospects
DTSTART:20201117T121500
DTEND:20201117T130000
DTSTAMP:20260511T054258Z
UID:deef6bca09733a915a1db59711901fa3086e32955232e4c89baa3724
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Prof. Eduardo Fernandez\nCortical prostheses are a subgroup of
  visual neuroprostheses capable of evoking visual percepts in profoundly b
 lind people through direct electrical stimulation of the occipital cortex.
  This approach may be the only treatment available for blindness caused by
  glaucoma\, end-stage retinal degenerations\, optic atrophy or trauma to t
 he retina and/or optic nerves. However\, there are still a relevant number
  of open questions and more experiments should be done to achieve the clin
 ical goals envisioned by this new technology.\nWe are now facing the chall
 enge of creating a cortical visual neuroprosthesis\, based on intracortica
 l microelectrodes\, which could allow to provide a limited but useful visu
 al sense to profoundly blind.  We will introduce preliminary results of e
 lectrical stimulation of human visual areas in blind subjects and review s
 ome of the principles and difficulties related to the development of a cor
 tical visual neuroprosthesis for the blind. Furthermore\, we will emphasiz
 e the role of neural plasticity in order to achieve the desired results. F
 inally\, we will discuss some of the exciting opportunities and challenges
  that lie in this intersection of neuroscience research\, biomedical engin
 eering\, neuro-ophthalmology and neurosurgery.\n\n\nDr. Fernandez received
  a M.D. degree from the University of Alicante (1986) and a Ph.D. in Neuro
 science in 1990. He is currently Professor and Chairman of the Department 
 of Histology and Anatomy of the University Miguel Hernández (Spain)\, Dir
 ector of the Neural Engineering Group of the Centro de Investigación Biom
 édica en Red (CIBER) in the subject area of Bioengineering\, Biomaterials
  and Nanomedicine (CIBER-BBN\, Spain)\, and Adjunct Professor at John Mora
 n Eye Center (University of Utah\, USA). He is a qualified MD who combines
  biomedicine (molecular and cellular biology\, biochemistry\, anatomy\, ph
 ysiology and regenerative medicine) with the physical sciences and enginee
 ring to improve neural interfaces. He is also trying to better understand 
 brain plasticity in blind subjects and working in the development of new t
 herapeutic approaches for retinal degenerative diseases. In the latest yea
 rs he has been coordinating several National and International projects to
  demonstrate the feasibility of a visual neuroprosthesis based on intracor
 tical microelectrodes as a means through which a limited but useful sense 
 of vision could be restored to profoundly blind.\n\n 
LOCATION:By Zoom https://epfl.zoom.us/j/86838246954
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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