Biomedical Technologies also collaborates with: national and international technological institutes; university research and development departments; and is actively involved in european projects.
SOME PROJECTS
Cortivis - Cortical Visual Prostheses for the Blind (EU Project)
This project aims to develop prototypes in the field of visual rehabilitation and to demonstrate the feasibility of a cortical neuroprostheses, interfaced with the visual cortex, as a means through which a limited but useful visual sense may be restored to profoundly blind people. While the full restoration of vision seems to be impossible, the discrimination of shape and location of objects could allow blind subjects to 'navigate' in a familiar environment and to read enlarged text, resulting in a substantial improvement in the standard of living of blind and visually impaired persons.The results from this project will provide information regarding neuroprostheses not presently available, as well as new information about the plastic changes in the adult nervous system, which has implications for rehabilitative training and device development.
LTMS - Definition and accommodation study Long-Term Medical Survey (ESA Project)
The European Space Agency (ESA), together with the other space agencies, is considering a manned mission to Mars towards year 2030. That is called AURORA PROGRAMME, which targets the exploration of the solar system with an international human expedition. The feasibility of such a mission is being assessed; however, the necessary technologies and capabilities still need to be developed. Being active in programs that have requirements similar to those of a mission to Mars allows getting experience on how to prepare the mission. One suitable program is the Concordia base in the Antarctic because of it’s:
• Very long-duration missions.
• Remote and isolated situation.
• Extreme enviromental conditions.
For those reasons ESA has decided to partner with the Concordia partners in order to study the human behavior and medical parameters of the Concordia crew. Amongst others, ESA will supply and support a system used to monitor the life and well-being (fitness) parameters of the Concordia Station crews. This system is the scope of the Long-term Medical Survey (LTMS).
The objective of LTMS is to collect from the Concordia crew, a suite of physiological parameters that should constitute a valuable asset for medical research at the station. To decide on the parameters, ESA organized a meeting of experts in adaptation in extreme (Antarctic) environments, altitude physiology, laboratory medicine etc. The outcome of this meeting resulted in the establishment of a baseline of biomedical parameters and measurement protocols. The data collected from these periodic medical measurement sessions, will conform the basic resource of further research about the health condition and fitness of people in long-term stays on harsh environments.
Meseas - Application of information technologies for the improvement of the medical service (National Project)
The project will develop the information necessary for remote monitoring of chronic patients by telephone terminals infrastructure. This infrastructure consists mainly of interactive applications in mobility, that will be in permanent contact with biomedical devices that perform the measurements necessary health parameters, as well as integration with backoffice Hospital System where patient information is stored to meet the requirements of the Organic Law on Data Protection.The solution aims to implement and integrate the entire biomedical sensors to remotely monitor chronic patients.