The brain science collaboration that offers hope to blind people
An applied goal of Pieter Roelfsema\u2019s lab at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience in Amsterdam is to create a visual brain prosthesis aimed at people who have lost their sight.
To help achieve this goal, the lab partners with both neurosurgeons and artificial intelligence researchers.
\u201cWe are knowledgeable about how to put electrodes in the brain,\u201d says Roelfsema, \u201cbut we collaborate with experts who know about how to make these electrodes so that they don't damage the brain tissue too much, also with people in artificial intelligence who can take camera images and translate them into brain stimulation patterns.
\u201cWe also collaborate with neurosurgeons who can inform us how to really make this device and make it something that is going to be feasible for a neurosurgeon to really implant in the brain. That is definitely a very important goal for me, to bring this to a patient.\u201d
In episode five of Tales from the Synapse, a podcast series with a focus on brain science, Roelfsema describes how he handles requests from people who are pinning their hopes on being able to see again. \u201cI have to explain this is not a clinically approved device,\u201d he says.
\u201cOur ambition will be to go to humans in the next say, two years, or maybe a little bit later, but it\u2019s still going to be research. There are all kinds of regulations, which are there for a good reason. And we have to show that we comply with all these regulations.\u201d
Tales from the Synapse is produced in partnership with Nature Neuroscience and introduced by Jean Mary Zarate, a senior editor at the journal. The series features brain scientists from all over the world who talk about their career journeys, collaborations and the societal impact of their research.
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