From blindness, deafness and neurodegeneration
Russian scientists have created a brain implant capable of restoring sight and hearing to people with disabilities
Blog of the Russian_rehab_industry company, Habr
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The technology of ELVIS neuroimplants will enable the activation of human senses: to obtain cybernetic vision for the blind or restore hearing to deaf people. Neuroimplants will also be able to correct serious brain diseases and neurological disorders, such as Parkinson's disease and chronic pain syndromes.
The technology is being jointly developed by the Foundation for the Support of the Deafblind "So-unity" and the non-profit Laboratory "Sensor-Tech". The creation of three neuroimplants was first publicly announced on June 17 at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum – 2022.
The ELVIS system is able to affect different areas of the brain, causing certain sensory sensations in a person. The line of neuroimplants is being created in Russia for the first time. It includes: an implant for restoring hearing (ELVIS C), an implant for the treatment of neurological disorders (ELVIS DBS) and an implant for restoring vision to the blind (ELVIS V).
"ELVIS neuroimplants allow patients to receive electronic hearing and vision or help with the most complex neurological diseases. Now there is such a situation that thousands of disabled people may be left without the medical care they need. All neuroimplant manufacturers are foreign companies. For us, working on the ELVIS line is not only an ambitious scientific and technological task, probably the main thing here is to prevent a situation where patients with very complex diseases will not be able to receive medical devices and will not be able to live a full life," said Denis Kuleshov, ELVIS project manager, director of the Sensor—Tech Laboratory.
About 300 thousand people in Russia have some kind of visual impairment. The ELVIS neuroimplant will be able to help restore vision to at least 20% of them. Also, about 9 million people with various hearing impairments live in Russia. Neuro-implantation technology is suitable for people who have completely lost sight or hearing, but who have preserved the brain and have visual or auditory experience.
Neuroimplant for hearing restoration ELVIS C
Allows you to transmit sounds from the microphone directly to the cochlea of the inner ear, where the nerve endings are located. As a result, a person with a disability receives electronic hearing.
The ELVIS C cochlear implant consists of two parts: the patient wears the first one on his ear – it is called a speech processor. The second part is implanted under the skin, and thin electrodes penetrate through the skull directly into the cochlea of the inner ear and stimulate nerve endings, which then transmit a signal to the brain.
ELVIS C is the first system for cochlear implantation in Russia. Previously, sound processors for cochlear implantation systems were produced in our country (a joint venture of Istok-Audio Group and Oticon Medical), and devices from foreign manufacturers (Denmark, Switzerland, etc.) were used as implantable components.
Neuroimplant for the correction of neurological diseases ELVIS DBS
Designed for people with Parkinson's disease, chronic pain syndromes, tremor, Tourette's syndrome and other neurological disorders.
The system consists of two parts – special electrodes are inserted into the subcortical structures of the brain and connected to a neurostimulator in the patient's chest. At the same time, the neurostimulator is programmed for each patient by the doctor and allows you to set the parameters of brain stimulation, depending on the disease.
The ELVIS DBS implant will have 13 electrodes that will stimulate brain cells in 360 mode, so that the neurosurgeon has more options for selecting a stimulation strategy for each patient. The device will allow you to send data about a person's condition remotely, which will improve the quality and effectiveness of treatment.
At least 300 brain surgeries are performed in Russia per year using DBS neuroimplants, while systems are mainly purchased from the USA. There were no Russian DBS implants in the country up to this point.
ELVIS V Blind Vision Restoration Implant
The neuroimplant allows you to "connect" cameras to the brain and transmit the image to it directly, without the help of the eyes. This process is provided by three blocks of the system:
– An implant that is installed in the brain (in the visual cortex, the area responsible for vision) and stimulates it with small currents. Due to this, a person begins to experience visual sensations and sees ordered pixel flashes of light.
– A hoop with two cameras. The user wears it on his head, and the cameras read the image in real time, performing the "eye function".
– The microcomputer analyzes the image from the cameras, highlights the contours of important objects and transmits the processed frames directly to the implant in the brain. The microcomputer is attached to the user's belt.
This development has already received two patents in Russia.
"The vision implant is already undergoing the final stage of animal testing. In January of this year, we installed ELVIS V to the monkey, the tests were successful. In 2024, the first blind volunteers will receive electronic vision. We expect that the ELVIS V installation operation will become widely available in Russia in 2027. In the future, one patient will be able to simultaneously put neuroimplants for vision and hearing. This will make it possible to help even totally deaf–blind people – they will be able to get out of the world of complete darkness and silence," said Natalia Sokolova, executive director of the Foundation for the Support of the Deafblind "So-unity".
Background information about the project is available on the ELVIS website.
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