From a “jolt to the head” to the gift of hearing: taking neural prostheses to the clinic
Event details
Date | 16.10.2018 |
Hour | 12:15 › 13:15 |
Speaker | Prof R. K. Shepherd PhD, FAHMS, University of Melbourne, AUS |
Location | |
Category | Conferences - Seminars |
Neural prostheses are engineered devices that record from and/or electrically stimulate excitable tissue in order to improve health outcomes. Since the introduction of the first heart pacemaker in the 1950s, there have been a number of devices approved for clinical use, resulting in a dramatic impact on the quality of life of millions of people around the world. These technologies depend on fundamental biomedical engineering principles and a thorough understanding of the anatomy and physiology of the target neural population. This talk will provide an overview of the design principles of bionic devices, using examples from our research including cochlear implants and retinal prostheses. I will also provide an overview of the potential preclinical studies required to evaluate device safety and efficacy and detail some of our current research examining stimulation safety and drug delivery in concert with neural prostheses.
Bio
Professor Rob Shepherd is the Principal Scientist of The Bionics Institute and Head of the Medical Bionics Department at the University of Melbourne. He was Director of the Bionics Institute from 2005-2017. In the 1980’s he led the preclinical team that demonstrated the safety and efficacy of Cochlear's bionic ear in both adults and children, and more recently his team developed a prototype bionic eye as part of an Australia-wide collaboration – Bionic Vision Australia – to develop a commercial bionic eye. A phase 1 clinical trial of this device was completed in 2014. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed papers, given more than 100 invited international keynote conference presentations and received over $95m of research funding as chief investigator. Prof Shepherd directed the expansion of the Bionic Ear Institute into the Bionics Institute, broadening its research portfolio and introduced a contract research organisation specialising in in vitro and in vivo R&D associated with neural prostheses. In 2014 he was awarded the Garnett Passe Medal at the Royal Society of Medicine, London; in 2015 he was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences and the “Knowledge Nation 100” of Australia’s top innovators; and in 2017 the bionic eye was commercialised through Bionic Vision Technologies with a capital investment of $24m. He was recently appointed the inaugural Editor-in-Chief of the journal Bioelectronics in Medicine.
Practical information
- Informed public
- Free
Contact
- Host Prof D. Ghezzi