SOMA
PROJECT
SOMA project investigates US solution as a completely novel low-invasive bidirectional peripheral interface
| Call Identifier | H2020-FETOPEN-2018-2019-2020-01 |
|---|---|
| Call Topic | FETOPEN-01-2018-2019-2020 FET-Open Challenging Current Thinking |
| Grant Number | 899822 |
| Starting Date | 01/09/2020 |
| Duration | 48 months |
| Funding | € 3.000.000+ |
The SOMA project has the ambition to importantly advance the field of bidirectional interfaces with the peripheral nervous system by pursuing four main high-risk objectives
01.
To importantly advance the state-of-the-art on the restoration of somatic sensations by means of a novel stimulation technique that reduces invasiveness and preserves selectivity and spatial discrimination of currently available most advanced solutions.
To importantly improve the decoding of the activity of muscle structures and mapping it into motor commands for neuroprostheses through a miniaturized ultra-fast US recording system and advanced decoding algorithms, to be combined in a bidirectional arrangement with focused US stimulation.
02.
03.
To investigate whether multiple somatic sensations can be delivered in amputees via focused US and gain insights into the spatio-temporal mechanisms relating cutaneous stimuli and afferent neural signals through an in-vitro model of the somatosensory system.
To demonstrate that the newly developed US bidirectional interface enables close-to-natural somatic sensory feedback and effective myoelectric control of an external prosthesis.
04.
The workplan is broken down into 10 Work Packages (WPs) over a duration of 48 months.
The project wants to pave the way to disruptive innovation in this area with strong benefits primarily for the community of people with limb amputation, but also for other pathologies that affect the human sensorymotor system.
SOMA consortium
The SOMA FET Project involves seven prestigious partners across Europe. A huge coordinated research effort will bring to ambitious advances in the field of amputees treament.
