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The Bionics Institute is a bio-medical research facility focusing on medical bionics. The Institute’s three core research themes are bionic hearing through cochlear implants, bionic vision through stimulation of the optic nerve and neurobionics through deep brain stimulation. The Bionics Institute is located in Melbourne, Australia. The Institute is dedicated to translational research leading to clinical outcomes. Recent examples of clinical trials the Institute has been involved in include deep brain stimulation of a patient with intractable obsessive compulsive disorder; completion of the Bionic Vision Australia trial of the prototype bionic eye with a trial of the next generation device to commence in 2015;〔() ABC Australia 2015. Bionic vision, diagnostic robots, and nano-tech: engineering and medicine intersect〕 and ongoing evaluation of a novel stimulation method to improve speech perception in five cochlear implant patients. ==History== The Bionic Ear Institute was founded in 1984 by Professor Graeme Clark, one of the original developers of the cochlear implant. Professor Clark founded the Institute with the goal of improving the device which he first implanted into a human in 1978. Professor Clark built the Institute into a leading independent cochlear implant research center and was its Director until 2005. By the early 2000s the Institute was working towards projects outside of hearing and in 2005 and 2007 received significant philanthropic grants totaling $1.5m to undertake a proof-of-concept study into a bionic eye. It was primarily the success of this study that led to a 2009 grant of $42 million from the Australian Research Council to fund the Bionic Vision Australia consortium which was tasked with developing two bionic eye designs in Australia.〔() Australian Research Council (ARC) 2009. Research into Bionic Vision Science and Technology. Canberra.〕 In June 2011 the Bionic Ear Institute renamed itself the Bionics Institute to reflect its broader focus which included research into deep brain stimulation, bionic vision and continued work in hearing. The current director of the Bionics Institute is Professor Rob Shepherd, who has held the role since Professor Clark’s departure in 2005. Positions on the Bionics Institute Board have been held by prominent Australians including world-renowned ballet dancer and author Li Cunxin, and former Victorian Premier Steve Bracks. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bionics Institute」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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