Brain device gets medical research funding

A brain device that can help restore people's eyesight will be further researched to discover other ways it could change lives, with the federal government stumping up more than $900,000 for the project.

The Monash University-led investigation will work with doctors and patients to identify two other ways the technology could be most useful.

The device sits on the surface of the brain and may be able to help grapple with conditions such as epilepsy and depression and restore other neural functions.

The initiative is one-of-10 research projects focused on medical breakthroughs that will receive up to $1 million.

Some of the researchers will later receive $50 million to bring what they have discovered to life, with the initiative costing $570 million in total.

"This investment has the potential to transform healthcare and stimulate growth in the Australian medical technologies, biomedical and pharmaceutical sector, a vital part of the innovation economy," Health Minister Greg Hunt says.

The minister will hear more about the Monash University project, being led by electrical and computer systems engineering Professor Arthur Lowery, in Melbourne on Wednesday.