Principal Investigators Hugh Herr , Edward Boyden
Co-investigators Canan Dagdeviren , Nancy Kanwisher , Robert Langer
Project Website https://yangtan.mit.edu/k-lisa-yang-center-for-bionics/
The K. Lisa Yang Center for Bionics was established in 2021 through a $24 million gift to the McGovern Institute from philanthropist Lisa Yang, a former investment banker committed to advocacy for individuals with visible and invisible disabilities. The goal of the center is to develop and deploy enabling technologies that communicate directly with the nervous system to mitigate a broad range of disabilities. The center’s scientists, clinicians, and engineers will work together to create, test, and disseminate bionic technologies that integrate human physiology with electromechanics.
The Yang Center for Bionics is deeply interdisciplinary, uniting experts from three MIT schools: Science, Engineering, and Architecture and Planning. Center researchers collaborate with clinical and surgical collaborators at Harvard Medical School to ensure that research advances are tested rapidly and reach people in need, including those in traditionally underserved communities.
The Yang Center for Bionics will initially focus on developing and testing three bionic technologies:
(1) Digital nervous system -- In an effort to reduce movement limitations caused by spinal cord injuries, center researchers are developing and testing a digital nervous system that employs computer-controlled muscle activations to control limb movements while simultaneously stimulating spinal cord repair.
(2) Brain-controlled limb exoskeletons -- Brain-controlled limb exoskeletons are being developed to assist weak muscles and enable natural movement for people affected by stroke or musculoskeletal disorders.
(3) Bionic limb reconstruction -- Restoring natural, brain-controlled movements as well as the sensation of touch and proprioception (awareness of position and movement) from bionic limbs is a key priority of the center.
(4) Sierra Leone Mobile Clinic -- Researchers are field testing a system that uses a mobile clinic to conduct the clinical imaging needed to design custom prosthetic hardware for patients and to perform prosthetic fittings. Investigators are bringing this mobile delivery system to Sierra Leone, where thousands of people suffered amputations during the country’s eleven-year civil war.