Hugh Herr, head of the Biomechatronics research group, and Professor Nidhi Seethapathi of the MIT Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences (BCS) have received an MIT HEALS Innovator Grant for their project, "Data-driven functional and cognitive assessments of the Cutaneous Mechaneuronal Interface (CMI)." 

The proposed work aims to develop sensory characterizations and data-driven functional assessments to evaluate sensory-restoring bionic limbs that employ the Cutaneous Mechanoneural Interface (CMI), a tissue-synthetic interface that provides natural cutaneous percepts from the prosthetic limb. To achieve this, the Herr Biomechatronics Group within the MIT Media Lab will conduct experiments and psychophysical characterization of sensory feedback on human participants who have received the CMI through sensory feedback restorative surgery. In the Seethapathi Motor Control Group within BCS, multimodal machine learning analysis will be used to develop data-driven assessments that quantify the CMI's impact on functional aspects of locomotion, such as cognitive load, stability, and adaptability, using a combination of functional locomotion tests and data-driven modeling.

This year, MIT HEALS awarded two Breakthrough and 17 Innovator proposals across 12 departments and units, supporting interdisciplinary research in health, environment, and life sciences. Collectively, the funded proposals represent 12 different departments and units across MIT, including the Media Lab.