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Kevin Otto - University of Florida. Gainesville, FL, US

Kevin Otto

Professor | University of Florida

Gainesville, FL, UNITED STATES

Kevin Otto directs the NeuroProstheses Research Lab, which focuses on engineering approaches to treat neurological disorders.

Biography

Kevin Otto is a professor in the J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering in the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering. He directs the NeuroProstheses Research Lab, which is centered on basic and applied research using engineering approaches to treat neurological disorders. His research is focused on engineering neural interfaces for both research purposes as well as treatment options in neurological injuries or disease. In particular, Kevin's research focuses on multi-channel implantable microdevices in both the central and peripheral nervous systems. These interfaces are being investigated for many applications including: sensory replacement, cognitive functional therapy and neuromodulation for autonomic therapies.

Areas of Expertise (5)

Neurostimulation

Device-Tissue Interfaces

Neural Engineering

Implantable Devices

Neuromodulation

Media Appearances (3)

TheSugarScience Podcast- curating the scientific conversation in type 1 diabetes

The SugarScience  online

2020-09-23

Episode 18: Kevin Otto, PhD, Professor at University of Florida Wednesday Sep 23, 2020 In this episode, Kevin Otto joins Monica Westley to discuss his research at The Neuroprostheses Research Lab at the University of Florida. Dr. Otto's research focuses on engineering neural interfaces for both research purposes as well as treatment options in neurological injuries or disease. Dr. Otto- "Eventual reinnervation can definitely lead to regeneration if the end target has a regeneration capability and so I think that there is a lot of intriguing harmony in that overall thinking."

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Pioneering research: UF Health among elite group selected to create 3D cellular map of human body

The Post  online

2018-11-01

University of Florida Health is one of five institutions nationwide selected by the National Institutes of Health to help create a groundbreaking 3D cellular map of the human body that may one day transform understanding of diseases. UF Health officials describe this effort as similar in ambition to the Human Genome Project, an international collaboration that catalogued all human DNA and led to the discovery of more than 1,800 disease-associated genes.

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The Next Brain Implant is a Real Live Wire

NEO.Life  online

2018-10-25

Neurovisionaries dream of one day merging our brains with computers. That era seems closer than ever: Tech pioneers like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg are now pursuing brain implants that aren’t purely for treatment, but could let us do things like communicate telepathically or type with our minds. Others claim we’ll soon have neuroprostheses to enhance our attention and memory, or allow us to integrate our brains with the Internet and control our smart homes with our minds.

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Articles (3)

Layer-dependent stability of intracortical recordings and neuronal cell loss

Frontiers in Neuroscience

Morgan E. Urdaneta, et. al

2023-04-05

Interfaces (BMI). Multiple factors, including the foreign body response (FBR), limit the stability of these neural signals over time. Current clinically approved devices consist of multi-electrode arrays with a single electrode site at the tip of each shank, confining the recording interface to a single layer of the cortex. Advancements in manufacturing technology have led to the development of high-density electrodes that can record from multiple layers. However, the long-term stability of neural recordings and the extent of neuronal cell loss around the electrode across different cortical depths have yet to be explored.

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Examining the in vivo functionality of the magnetically aligned regenerative tissue-engineered electronic nerve interface (MARTEENI)

Journal of Neural Engineering

Eric W Atkinson, et. al

2022-09-07

Objective. Although neural-enabled prostheses have been used to restore some lost functionality in clinical trials, they have faced difficulty in achieving high degree of freedom, natural use compared to healthy limbs. This study investigated the in vivo functionality of a flexible and scalable regenerative peripheral-nerve interface suspended within a microchannel-embedded, tissue-engineered hydrogel (the magnetically aligned regenerative tissue-engineered electronic nerve interface (MARTEENI)) as a...

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Closed-Loop, Cervical, Epidural Stimulation Elicits Respiratory Neuroplasticity after Spinal Cord Injury in Freely Behaving Rats

eNeuro

Ian G. Malone, et al.

2022-02-08

Over half of all spinal cord injuries (SCIs) are cervical, which can lead to paralysis and respiratory compromise, causing significant morbidity and mortality. Effective treatments to restore breathing after severe upper cervical injury are lacking; thus, it is imperative to develop therapies to address this. Epidural stimulation has successfully restored motor function after SCI for stepping, standing, reaching, grasping, and postural control.

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