IEE Cyprus Branch

University of Cyprus,

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

IEEE Cyprus Section

 

 

SEMINAR

 

Towards a fully-implantable vestibular prosthesis for balance restoration

 

Timothy G. Constandinou

 

Wednesday, April 16th 2008, 4:30 – 5:30 pm

University of Cyprus, New Campus

Room XÙÄ001 103

 

Abstract

Neuroprosthetics or neural engineering is a relatively new field that has already shown potential medical benefit. Since the application of this science, it has already significantly improved the quality of life of over 60,000 individuals who previously suffered from severely impaired hearing or total deafness. Today, through use of cochlear implants, children born totally deaf can enjoy going to mainstream schools and communicating normally. Individuals suffering from dizziness and balance disorders can also benefit from the progress made in cochlear prosthetics, combined with modern microelectromechanical systems. The inner ear's vestibular system provides information about self-motion and helps stabilize vision during movement. Damage to this system can result in dizziness, vertigo, nausea, blurred vision and instability in locomotion, a leading cause of mortality and morbidity in the elderly. Restoration of balance can therefore be achieved by bypassing a dysfunctional element in the vestibular pathway using artificial stimuli. There are a number of sites along the vestibular pathway that can be tapped into; the ampullae, the scarpa's ganglion and individual nerve bundles. This project intends to develop the world’s first integrated vestibular prosthesis platform, investigating techniques needed for artificial vestibular restoration. This research will develop a hybrid (MEMS/CMOS) silicon chip, to sense motion and generate the artificial neural stimulation required.

 

About the Speaker

Timothy G. Constandinou received the B.Eng. degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering with first class honours in 2001 and the Ph.D. degree in Electronic Engineering from Imperial College in 2005. He is currently based at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at Imperial, where he is Research Officer for the Bionics research group. He also holds a position of research Fellow at the University of Cyprus. He is a member of the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society, Sensory Systems and BioCAS Technical Committees. His research interests include ultra low power circuits and systems for biomedical and biologically-inspired applications (such as implantable neuroprosthetic devices, body-worn instrumentation, integrated smart sensors and vision systems).

 

Information: Tel: 22-892251/71, email: ece@ucy.ac.cy