People involved from BSS
Innovative neurotechnology for society (INTENSE)
The aging of the population and the increase of our life expectancy poses a major societal challenge because it causes more people to contract disorders of the nervous system that require a high level of care. These demographic developments put intense pressure on our healthcare system, because many of these disorders limit the patients’ freedom and impair their participation in society, and they thereby create a large burden on patients, caregivers and our society. Neurotechnology can ameliorate or even eliminate some of the impairments that come with neurological disorders, by helping the patients to regain lost functions and participate in society, while reducing the cost of healthcare. INTENSE will generate disruptive neurotechnology, allowing us to read from and write to the human brain at an unprecedented level. We aim to create new high-bandwidth, wireless interfaces to the human nervous system to partially restore functionality. Furthermore, we brought together the expertise to make these new technologies ready to be tested in patients and for commercial application. The project connects a visionary team of world-renowned experts in neuroscience, technology, medicine, psychology and ethics to major neurotechnology companies and patient organizations. The INTENSE project consists of 8 scientific work packages complemented with a work package for valorization.
The Biomedical Signals and Systems group is part of work package C | Psychology. We work together with the Radboud University and other partners of the INTENSE project to improve the quality of life of several patient groups including Parkinson’s patients experiencing fear of falling and freezing of gait, by embracing advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and hardware innovations. Extensive behavioral and psychological testing is essential to validate AI algorithms and technological interfaces with the brain - particularly in a home-based environment. We will use EEG and other neuroimaging measures to monitor physiological and pathophysiological processes in the brain, stress and psychological responses enabling closed-loop application of patient-specific therapy.
The project is funded by the NWO crossover programme, which has the aim to strengthen the Dutch knowledge and innovation system with public-private partnerships.
More information about the project can be found on its website.