Research........
The technology and expertise required in the creation of a medical bionics device can be used across multiple applications.The Bionics Institute [6] is an independent medical research institute undertaking world-class medical bionics research, focussed particularly on neural prostheses.
Bionic hearing Research at the Bionics Institute is aimed at improving the performance of the cochlear implant and other hearing devices, and enabling their application to many more adults and children with hearing impairments. As part of the Bionic Vision Australia consortium, the Bionics Institute is developing a bionic eye implant capable of restoring limited vision to people suffering from eye diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa.In the Bionics Institute’s Neurobionics research program, implantable devices are being developed to detect, predict and suppress abnormal neural activity in the brain.
In no way are biological examples just copied in bionics, rather scientists investigate the basic functional mechanisms in an interdisciplinary collaboration of nature and engineering sciences and convert them into advanced technical solutions.
There are two different procedures: in a top-down process researchers first define a problem and then try to find a solution strategy in nature (analogy bionics). In contrast a bottom-up process in bionics is the basic research of biological systems and the technical implementation of the functional principles resulting from this (abstraction bionics).
Bionic hearing Research at the Bionics Institute is aimed at improving the performance of the cochlear implant and other hearing devices, and enabling their application to many more adults and children with hearing impairments. As part of the Bionic Vision Australia consortium, the Bionics Institute is developing a bionic eye implant capable of restoring limited vision to people suffering from eye diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa.In the Bionics Institute’s Neurobionics research program, implantable devices are being developed to detect, predict and suppress abnormal neural activity in the brain.
In no way are biological examples just copied in bionics, rather scientists investigate the basic functional mechanisms in an interdisciplinary collaboration of nature and engineering sciences and convert them into advanced technical solutions.
There are two different procedures: in a top-down process researchers first define a problem and then try to find a solution strategy in nature (analogy bionics). In contrast a bottom-up process in bionics is the basic research of biological systems and the technical implementation of the functional principles resulting from this (abstraction bionics).
Major Research Challenges
1) Understanding the processes underlying decision making in brains and machines
2) Understanding how the brain represents the world
3) Engineering autonomous machines (including their endowment with biologically inspiredmeans of forward propulsion)
4) Understanding sensory-motor integration
5) Understanding the adaptability and plasticity of brains and machines
6) Engineering a new breed of computer architecture which directly processes an array of analogue signals and a signal flow, (AnaLogic CNN computers) for use in various applications, including research and decision making.
2) Understanding how the brain represents the world
3) Engineering autonomous machines (including their endowment with biologically inspiredmeans of forward propulsion)
4) Understanding sensory-motor integration
5) Understanding the adaptability and plasticity of brains and machines
6) Engineering a new breed of computer architecture which directly processes an array of analogue signals and a signal flow, (AnaLogic CNN computers) for use in various applications, including research and decision making.