NANOCI

Nanotechnology based cochlear implant with gapless interface to auditory neurons

Coordinatore	UNIVERSITAET BERN    more  Organization address address: Hochschulstrasse 4 city: BERN postcode: 3012 contact info Titolo: Dr. Nome: Pascal Cognome: Senn Email: send email Telefono: +41 31 6323347
Nazionalità Coordinatore	Switzerland [CH]
Sito del progetto	http://www.nanoci.org
Totale costo	4˙914˙955 €
EC contributo	3˙599˙853 €
Programma	FP7-NMP Specific Programme "Cooperation": Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and new Production Technologies
Code Call	FP7-NMP-2011-SMALL-5
Funding Scheme	CP-FP
Anno di inizio	2012
Periodo (anno-mese-giorno)	2012-09-01   -   2015-08-31

 Partecipanti

#	participant	country	role	EC contrib. [€]
1	UNIVERSITAET BERN  Organization address address: Hochschulstrasse 4 city: BERN postcode: 3012 contact info Titolo: Dr. Nome: Pascal Cognome: Senn Email: send email Telefono: +41 31 6323347	CH (BERN)	coordinator	657˙756.00
2	HAUTE ECOLE SPECIALISEE DE SUISSE OCCIDENTALE  Organization address address: RUE DE LA JEUNESSE 1 city: DELEMONT postcode: 2800 contact info Titolo: Prof. Nome: Herbert Cognome: Keppner Email: send email Telefono: 41329301364 Fax: 41329302930	CH (DELEMONT)	participant	590˙902.00
3	EBERHARD KARLS UNIVERSITAET TUEBINGEN  Organization address address: GESCHWISTER-SCHOLL-PLATZ city: TUEBINGEN postcode: 72074 contact info Titolo: Dr. Nome: Hubert Cognome: Loewenheim Email: send email Telefono: +49 7071 2988178 Fax: +49 7071 29 3311	DE (TUEBINGEN)	participant	539˙150.00
4	BAR ILAN UNIVERSITY  Organization address address: BAR ILAN UNIVERSITY CAMPUS city: RAMAT GAN postcode: 52900 contact info Titolo: Ms. Nome: Estelle Cognome: Waise Email: send email Telefono: 97235317439 Fax: 97236353277	IL (RAMAT GAN)	participant	415˙068.00
5	TAMPEREEN YLIOPISTO  Organization address address: Kalevantie 4 city: TAMPERE postcode: 33014 contact info Titolo: Ms. Nome: Susanna Cognome: Airila Email: send email Telefono: +358 3 3551 6367 Fax: +358 3 3551 8970	FI (TAMPERE)	participant	364˙800.00
6	MED-EL Elektromedizinische Geraete GmbH  Organization address address: FUERSTENWEG 77a city: Innsbruck postcode: 6020 contact info Titolo: Prof. Nome: Ingeborg Cognome: Hochmair Email: send email Telefono: +43 288889 120 Fax: +43 512 272708	AT (Innsbruck)	participant	316˙233.00
7	UPPSALA UNIVERSITET  Organization address address: SANKT OLOFSGATAN 10 B city: UPPSALA postcode: 751 05 contact info Titolo: Ms. Nome: Siv Cognome: Utterberg Email: send email Telefono: +46 18 6114855	SE (UPPSALA)	participant	316˙044.00
8	EMC MICROCOLLECTIONS GMBH  Organization address address: Sindelfinger Str. 3 city: TUEBINGEN postcode: 72070 contact info Titolo: Dr. Nome: Renate Cognome: Spohn Email: send email Telefono: +49 7071 40740 Fax: +49 7071 4074 22	DE (TUEBINGEN)	participant	278˙800.00
9	SCIPROM SARL  Organization address address: RUE DU CENTRE 70 city: Saint-Sulpice postcode: 1025 contact info Titolo: Dr. Nome: Peter Cognome: Ulrich Email: send email Telefono: +41 21 694 04 14	CH (Saint-Sulpice)	participant	121˙100.00

Mappa

 Word cloud

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Over 60 million of citizens in the EU suffer from hearing loss with its associated restrictions. In severe cases, hearing can only be restored by surgically implanting a neuroprosthesis called cochlear implant, which directly stimulates the auditory nerve. The bottleneck for optimal stimulation is caused by the anatomical gap between the electrode array and the auditory neurons in the inner ear. As a consequence, current devices are limited through (i) low frequency resolution, hence poor sound quality and (ii), strong signal amplification, hence high energy consumption responsible for significant battery costs and for impeding the development of fully implantable systems. Recent findings indicate that auditory nerve fibres can grow under neurotrophin stimulation towards the electrodes, which opens the door to address all issues simultaneously. NANOCI aims at developing a neuroprosthesis with a gapless interface to auditory nerve fibres. The neurites will be attracted and guided by an innovative, nanostructured gel matrix containing diffusible and surface-bound neurotrophic compounds towards the functionalized, neurotrophic electrode array surface. The long-lasting operation without interface degradation, reduced biofouling and improved conductivity will be achieved by nanostructuring the array surface using (i) various functional nanomaterials, including carbon nanotubes, combined with (ii) structuration methodologies such as ion implantation and sacrificial nanoparticle embedding in parylene, SOLID (solid on liquid deposition) encapsulation, and sonochemistry. Components will be validated using appropriate bioassays including human auditory neurons in vitro. In parallel, software models will be developed to exploit the bidirectional, gapless interface. Fusing all developments, an animal-grade, pilot nanoCI-device is manufactured and tested in vivo. This will allow to assess the feasibility of a future, cost-efficient, and fully implantable neuroprosthesis with substantially increased sound quality.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

In the majority of deaf patients, hearing can be restored by means of a cochlear implant (CI). Creating a seamless interface between the electrodes of the implant and auditory neurons will overcome the limitations of existing CI models.