Future Star finalist: Giacomo Valle
This year’s stars for the Future Star Award have been narrowed down to three outstanding finalists. Giacomo Valle is a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich (Switzerland), working in the field of neuroprosthetics.
Read more about Giacomo’s career and his aims for the future.
Please tell us about your research career and outreach initiatives to date.
I studied Bioengineering and Neuroengineering in Italy and got my PhD in Biorobotics. I then moved to Switzerland to pursue a career in translational neuroengineering.
The goal of my current work is to close the gap between the nervous system and robotics using bionic limbs in order to improve the quality of life of patients suffering from sensorimotor disabilities. What we are doing is physically connecting bionic devices with the human nervous system by implanting neural electrodes in the peripheral nervous system of, for example, a patient with an amputation. After the surgery, we connect a robotic device, such as a robotic hand or a robotic leg, to these electrodes, creating a link between the prosthetic device and the brain. Because the nerves are the information highway of the nervous system, we can detect neural information to control a robotic device and send artificial information to the brain to feel sensations from the prosthesis. In this way, the amputee patient can feel the object that they are touching. This is a specific type of prosthesis called somatosensory neuroprosthesis because it is able to provide real sensory feedback to the user.
Why did you choose a career in this field?
I do have a passion for science fiction and also robotics, but what really attracted me to this field was the possibility to study the nervous system in a unique way. Indeed, you have these neural interfaces that are directly implanted in the brain or in the spinal cord of patients that are using this technology. So really you can measure and study the brain in a new way to understand the mechanisms behind this specific futuristic intervention.
At the same time, you can use neurotechnology in the form of advanced robotics to help people with sensorimotor deficits. It’s a type of technology that has a clinically relevant application; you can see improvements in the motor and sensory skills of patients with an amputation or spinal cord injury. Neuroprosthetics is becoming a new field of medicine, which is really at the forefront of medicine and engineering. For me, this is an incredible area, it’s like something you see in the movies. So, I decided immediately that I needed to study this.
The other reason is the relationship with patients with these particular implants. You see not only the possibility to help these patients, but you also rely on them as they are really part of neuroprosthetic development. Indeed, in this phase, the proof-of-concept phase, patients are crucially important as they can make suggestions and provide feedback to developers. They can really be part of the development of the technology, and it’s really nice that these patients are participating in the growth of the entire field.
What would you consider to be the most challenging aspect of your work and how have you overcome it?
Of course, there are many challenges, starting with the complexity of the neural connections and the restored artificial sensations. If you think about the multi-dimensional aspect of touch and cutaneous sensations, they are incredibly rich: you can perceive multiple types of tactile sensations, considering the textures and edges, object properties etc. The way in which our skin conveys all this information is very complex and the connection between the sensory and the motor systems is really strong. Everything is well connected and there is a closed loop of information that, in few milliseconds, allows you to react to external stimuli. When you need to replace these complex functions with a robotic device, you face many challenges. First, you need to detect precisely all the sensory information in real-time, and then the most challenging (but also fascinating) part is how to convert artificial signals from a robotic device into something understandable by the brain. You need to send this information via the nerves to the brain of the user, enabling them to understand all the features of the grasped object. This can be done through neuromodulation.
The nerve–electrode interface is also really important, both in terms of physical connection and communication with the brain. You need to have a stable and bio-compatible interface, so your electrode would be well integrated in the nerve without any type of infections. You also need to design what we call sensory encoding for defining the neuromodulation patterns.
Even though there are many challenges to overcome, it is a rewarding moment when the patient, maybe after 20 years of having their amputation, can really feel touch or pressure on exactly the part of the hand that you want. It’s really an emotional moment, both for us and them.
Which publication of yours best highlights your career?
I was part of two big clinical trials, which were important for this type of technology. One for upper limb amputees, where we implanted a bionic hand, so the patients were able to feel sensations again. And another clinical trial for lower limb amputees, which used similar technology, but instead of using a robotic hand, we adopted a sensitized robotic leg and foot with sensors placed under the prosthetic foot.
For the first clinical trial, we published a paper [1] on biomimetic intraneural stimulation. It was a paper on how to stimulate the nervous system using neuromodulation in order to restore somatosensation in people with an amputation. I think this publication was very important for me and for my career. It helped me to understand how to design these closed-loop neuroprostheses in a very functional and also more natural way.
The other clinical trial with lower limb amputees was really important as well, because it was the first implant of neural electrodes in leg nerves in the world. It was the first application of this technology with lower limb amputees and we published a paper [2] where we improved the mobility and health of the patients using the neuroprostheses compared to a conventional prosthesis without the neural implants.
Where do you hope to see yourself and your research in 5 years?
My dream is to continue to work in the field of brain–computer interface and neuroprosthetics, attracting companies and big players to enter the field, like Elon Musk with Neuralink, because this area is the future, not only for people with disabilities but also maybe for human augmentation purposes.
In 5 years, I’d like to have my own lab that can work on this particular application of neuroengineering in order to help people with sensorimotor disabilities and also to create startups for making these technologies more accessible to patients. Indeed, we need to boost the connection with industry in order to bring this technology to patients more quickly.
Why do you feel you deserve this award?
I think this research is important for two reasons. Firstly, this research field is multidisciplinary, involving excellent and versatile experts. It requires surgeons, neurologists, neuropsychologists and engineers. It’s a multidisciplinary and complex approach to help people with disabilities. This is the only way to effectively solve such a complex problem.
The second reason why this research is important is because it really helps people. Right now, the patients are the pioneers of this research. They agree to receive neural implants in their brain or on their nerves, knowing that they are not the people who will benefit from these prostheses in daily life. Indeed, thanks to their contributions, we can see what is beneficial and what we have to change. Then in future years, we would finalize the design, complete the certification phase and then commercialize these medtech devices, improving the quality of life of other patients. Without them, this would not be possible. So, this award is in particular for them, they well deserve it!
