In this rapidly developing field, professionals who understand both biological systems and engineering processes play a crucial role. Hungarian expertise - and the education supporting this field -has been distinctive and pioneering since the early 2000’s.
Info-bionics is one of the youngest yet fastest-growing scientific disciplines, supported by a strong industrial background. Leading companies in medical imaging, pharmaceuticals, rehabilitation technologies, and robotics all rely on innovations emerging from this field. Specialists apply the principles of biological systems to develop technological solutions such as artificial sensory organs and neural interfaces, as highlighted in a statement by the Pázmány Péter Catholic University’s Faculty of Information Technology and Bionics.
Today, the field is no longer limited to brain-machine interfaces or futuristic prosthetics. It increasingly focuses on understanding how the human body functions - from the nervous system and muscles to movement and perception - and how these processes can be measured, interpreted, and complemented with advanced technology.
The world’s leading economies are investing billions in bionic limbs, intelligent sensors, and neural data processing. While North America once held a leading position, development and research activity in this field is now increasingly driven by China and other countries in East Asia.
In Europe, the situation is more complex. Markets built on bionic and info-bionic systems benefit from strong engineering and medical technology foundations, and countries such as Germany, France, and the United Kingdom play a significant role in clinical applications. At the same time, research and development capacity remains constrained, largely due to regulatory limitations and fewer investment opportunities.
Yet one of the research and educational environments dedicated to bringing such technological developments closer to real human applications can be found in Hungary.
“At the Faculty of Information Technology and Bionics of Pázmány Péter Catholic University, we focus on engineering approaches to biology that can ultimately lead to technologies applicable to humans. Our research is visible through numerous international collaborations. In my courses, I also strive to introduce students to clinical realities. As engineering considerations are becoming increasingly important in everyday medical practice, it is essential that physicians and engineers learn to understand each other’s workflows and ways of thinking,” says Dániel Hillier, assistant professor at the Faculty and head of the Visual Systems Neuroscience Research Group at the HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences’ Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology.
Understanding Both Biology and Electronics
Neural technologies - establishing machine connections with the nervous system, whether by reading neural signals or delivering stimulation - represent one of the most complex engineering challenges in modern science.
“These are extremely demanding tasks because biology functions very differently from electronics. One of the greatest challenges in the field is that these two worlds - the complexity of living systems and the precision of digital devices - can only be connected if the experts involved understand the fundamental principles of both,” explains Kristóf Iván, associate professor and head of the Info-Bionics Engineering MSc program.
“Our aim is not simply to provide engineering or biological knowledge, but to cultivate a mindset in which these two perspectives merge organically rather than operate in parallel. Even in thesis and doctoral projects, we seek to address problems where practical application and market demand are clearly tangible.”
Students in the program become familiar with the development of devices and systems capable of handling neural interfaces, measuring and analyzing biological data in real time, and creating next-generation rehabilitation technologies. These include brain-machine interfaces, sensory robotics, bionic prostheses, and other solutions applicable in clinical practice.
Graduates of the program now work at companies such as Richter Gedeon, 77 Elektronics, Philips, General Electric, and Oncompass Medicine. Several startups are also connected to alumni of the program, including Cytocast, which develops cell-simulation software by integrating databases into computational models, and Allonic, which focuses on manufacturing technologies for bionic robots and prosthetics by mapping human anatomy tissue by tissue.
The research centres operating at the Faculty strengthen Hungary’s medtech and health-industry ecosystem. Beyond educating highly skilled professionals, they contribute to building long-term global competitiveness for Hungary in a rapidly expanding strategic sector.
Source (in Hungarian)
