Wireless Biosignal Recording and Stimulation System

该奖项支持一种设备的开发，该设备将能够研究啮齿动物或其他小动物在自然环境中自由移动、行为和社交的神经元活动。迄今为止，由于在功耗、噪声和成本之间进行权衡，开发用于无线神经传感的定制硬件设备的尝试已经导致系统具有各种各样的优点和缺点。使用商业现成技术需要比定制工作更小、更快的开发工作，同时提供最先进的数据处理、网络和通信技术。但这种系统通常体积庞大，耗电量大。该奖项支持的这项工作代表了使用定制设计的子系统和使用现成组件之间的妥协。PI期望在低噪声和低功耗信号传输、数据通信和网络性能之间实现平衡，同时提供前所未有的本地数字信号处理和双向通信能力。具体来说，目标是开发一种无线神经传感、刺激和通信平台，该平台能够1)传输来自自然环境中任意数量的自由行为和相互作用的啮齿动物的多通道神经信号，2)应用预定义或反馈刺激。工作将集中在1)完成一个全面的基于网络的双通道无线脑电图记录系统，2)实现基于编程事件的远程刺激，以及3)实现超低功耗的多通道单单元记录能力，用于慢性实验。提出的无线神经记录和刺激系统将作为一种新的、全面的、微创设备的基础，允许以前所未有的方式研究大脑功能。这项研究计划中使用的方法可能会成为未来研究工作的一个模型，因为它最初利用了一种新的革命性技术来实现近期目标，并继续增强这种基础技术来实现长期目标。所有高等教育水平的学生都将参与该项目，通过实践研究培训和参加微机电系统课程。

This award supports development of a device that will enable study of the neuronal activity of freely moving, behaving, and socializing rodents or other small animals in natural environments. To date, attempts to develop custom hardware devices for wireless neural sensing have led to systems with varied advantages and drawbacks as the result of trade-offs between power consumption, noise and cost. The use of commercial off the shelf technology requires a much smaller and faster development effort than required for custom efforts, while simultaneously providing state-of-the-art data-processing, networking, and communication technology. But such systems are typically bulky and power intensive. This effort supported by this award represents a compromise between the use of custom designed sub-systems and the use of off-the-shelf components. The PI expects to achieve a balance between low-noise and low-power signal transmission, data communication, and networking performance, while providing unprecedented local digital signal processing and bi-directional communications capabilities. Specifically, the objective is the development of a wireless neural sensing, stimulation, and communication platform capable of 1) transmitting multiple channels of neural signals from, and 2) applying pre-defined or feedback stimuli to any number of freely behaving and interacting rodents in their natural environment. Efforts will be focused on 1) completing a comprehensive web-based two-channel wireless EEG recording system, 2) enabling programmed event-based remote stimulation, and 3) implementing ultra low-power multi-channel single-unit recording capabilities for chronic experiments. The proposed wireless neural recording and stimulation system will serve as a foundation for novel, comprehensive, and minimally invasive devices permitting study of brain function in an unprecedented manner. The approach used in this research proposal could potentially serve as a model for future research endeavors in that it initially leverages a new and revolutionary technology for near-term goals, and proceeds to enhance this underlying technology to meet longer-term goals. Students at all postsecondary levels will be involved in the project, through both hands-on research training and participation in a class dealing with micro electro-mechanical systems.