Opening Donders AI for Neurotech Lab

Radboud University is investing further in Artificial Intelligence with the opening of a third ICAI lab at Radboud University, East Netherlands. It is the thirteenth ICAI lab in the Netherlands. The Donders AI for Neurotech Lab is working on the development of next-generation of AI-driven neurotechnologies. Its aim is to improve the life of patients who rely on neurotech solutions to overcome or ease their disabilities.

Take a look at the website of Donders AI for Neurotech Lab for more information.

The AI for Neurotech Lab aims to develop machine learning solutions for brain reading and writing, to restore sensory and cognitive functions. These solutions could include hearing tools for the deaf and vision for the blind, but also tools that oppress seizures for those that suffer from epilepsy. Yağmur Güçlütürk, manager of the lab and assistant professor Artificial Intelligence at Radboud University, explains: ‘An example of such work, which I am very proud of, is our ongoing national and international collaborations on developing the first long-term visual cortical implants to restore visual perception in blind people.’

Partnership

The lab is a partnership between the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, several companies (including Advanced Bionics, Abbott, Phosphoenix and the OnePlanet Research Center) and various academic institutions from across the Netherlands. To support new research at the lab, five PhD-students will be hired shortly to help develop new AI solutions, made possible by 14 million euros of funding through the NWO INTENSE CrossOver program.

Marcel van Gerven, scientific director of the lab: ‘The Donders ICAI AI for Neurotech lab will develop new AI solutions that power next-generation neurotechnology. Our goal is to restore communication and control in people who lost this ability due to a wide variety of impairments that affect brain function.’

Güçlütürk: ‘We hope to make the Donders AI for Neurotech Lab a central hub in Europe for developing smarter neurotech. To do this, we will be building the lab with several partners from both the academic world and the industry.’

Radboud AI

The lab is part of Radboud AI, an initiative that brings together researchers from all seven faculties of Radboud University. In total, the university has over 170 scientists working on research that involves artificial intelligence. Based on the citation score, it is the number one in AI research in the Netherlands. The university distinguishes itself with a focus on the human side of artificial intelligence, with a lot of attention on the applications of AI where humans are at the center.

Source: Radboud University