Bionics+ was promoted at the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Conference (EMBC2023) in Sydney, Australia in July 2023 Bionics+ was promoted at the IEEE International Engineering in Medicine and Biology Conference in Sydney, Australia earlier this year. With the conference attracting a large number of biomedical engineers from all subject interest areas and from a diverse set of world-wide locations it was an opportunity to make the network known to potential overseas partners for our members. A good number of network partners signed up over the 3 days of the conference, and whilst o ..read more

In 2022 we announced the first major funding outlay for our network where we ran a day long funding sandpit (see link below this article) that was followed up by online discussions and resulted in 6 submissions for funding. After deliberations we decided to fund 3 feasibility studies, these are listed below. These studies are now nearing completion and we look forward to sharing the outcomes with the wider partners at some point soon. If you have any specific questions regarding the studies themselves then feel free to contact your fellow partners who are undertaking the feasibility studies ..read more

Christopher is a biomedical engineer and is the PI of the EPSRC Bionics+ Network and is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Warwick and Director of the Biomedical Engineering Institute BMEI, University of Warwick Christopher was born in Malta, received the B.Elec.Eng. (Hons) degree in from the University of Malta (1992) and a Ph.D from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand (1997). He was a postdoctoral research fellow at the EEG department of the Montreal Neurological Institute, of McGill University, Montreal, Canada (1997-1998), and a postdoctoral research fell ..read more

In the next few newsletters, we will be highlighting members of the Bionics+ team, and their work, this month we start with Kia. I am Kia Nazarpour. I am an academic with the University of Edinburgh. I hold an EPSRC Healthcare Technology Challenge Award. My research is motivated by the potential of bionic technologies to make a real difference in the quality of life of people with sensorimotor impairment. I am a true advocate for engaging all stakeholders in the research and translation of medical technology to ensure the end products are fit-for-purpose. More information about my research i ..read more

I know that many of our network partners know that as a network can help to promote discussions, new research ideas and ways in which to test new solutions. We can also fund various activities – at our launch we introduced the various funding methods we have planned – and these can be summarised in this post. The following diagram illustrates the various way in which we expect to be funding networking in the Bionics field: Over the course of the 4 years of the Bionics+ Network we will issue 18 calls, across 5 funding schemes. We plan to issue specific funding calls that registered project part ..read more

Moorfields Eye Hospital has done the UK’s first bionic eye transplant (timeout.com) We thought you might be interested in the following article about “the UK’s first bionic eye transplant”, Prof Green from the executive team comments below: Moorfields have implanted a number of different bionic eye devices over the years. They did the first UK trial of the US based Second Sight Argus in 2009. This specific technology is a European based photovoltaic technology that offers greater resolution than the US Argus device. It will be interesting to see how the resolution of this device impacts on ..read more

Prof Helen Dawes, our EDI Officer EDI is at the heart of our Bionics+ Network, and we have our very own EDI officer who will ensure all we do is to the betterment of all. Professor Helen Dawes, from the University of Exeter, is our EDI officer and this is what she has to say: We are encouraging network members who may have undertaken non-typical career routes, at every stage of their career and who come from all backgrounds, regardless of: age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race (includes colour, nationality ..read more

Its April 2021 and we are happy to say that EPSRC have decided to fund the Bionics+ network plus. Now there will be a lot of behind the scenes work to set the network up and get everything in place so that we can start the process of doing what we said we would do. One of the first things we will do is get the message out about our existence and consolidate the list of project partners. We already have a strong list of members from academia, industry, clinicians and end-users – we want to continue to grow that list such that we make sure we are representing the user base of Bionics in the UK ..read more

Remember that we have our first open call for funding which is open to all eligible network members (make sure you are registered as a network member so that you are able to apply – use the contact us form on our webpages to do so). This call covers three specific funding streams which are listed next. Please read carefully and contact us if you have any queries or wish to apply. Funding Areas RADA training: Each year, we will sponsor a number of network members to attend a relevant training workshop of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). We don’t wish to proscribe the eligible courses ..read more

This year the annual EMBC conference will be taking place in Glasgow, UK – where our very own Prof. Christopher James will be the Conference Chair. This conference is themed: “Biomedical Engineering transforming the provision of healthcare: promoting wellness through personalized & predictable provision at the point of care”. The scientific tracks will cover the standard topics of the EMBS technical committees with an additional topic, consistent with the conference theme. Alongside the scientific sessions, there will be an exhibition comprising biomedical engineering companies, publishe ..read more