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Utah is known as a hotbed for medical device innovation, and a particular strength is in the area of neural-related technology. The stature of our research community was one reason the Neural Interfaces Conference has elected to hold its 40th annual event at the Salt Palace Convention Center June 17-20, 2012. 

This prestigious international convention will welcome more than 600 attendees from the Neural Interfaces research community working in areas that include functional neuromuscular/electrical stimulation, auditory prosthesis, cortical prosthesis, neuromodulation, microelectrode array technology, brain computer/machine interfaces and other related areas.

“Clearly we were invited to host because we are regarded as one of the leading universities working in the area of neural interfaces,” said Richard A. Normann, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Bioengineering and Ophthalmology at the U of U, who is also on the conference steering committee. He is the inventor of the Utah Electrode Array technologies and other high-electrode-count microelectrode arrays that can be used for basic and applied research in emerging field of neuroprosthetics. 

 

The 2012 conference will be a forum to exhibit products, services or findings in the following categories: biocompatibility, biomaterials, biomedical engineering, brain machine interface, cochlear implants, cortical implants, deep brain stimulation, electrical engineering, epilepsy, microelectrodes, motor prostheses, neurology, neuroscience, neurosurgery, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, retinal implants and other related areas.

A highlight of the conference will be a public event June 17 to be held at the James L. Sorenson Molecular Biotechnology Building – A USTAR Innovation Center on the campus of the University of Utah. Researchers will demonstrate technologies aimed at Parkinsons, blindness, use of artificial limbs, and other conditions. USTAR principle investigators and other top scientists and engineers from the Brain Institute and the Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute will participate in the event and the conference.

For more information, visit http://neuralinterfaces2012.com/index.htm.