Bidirectional Wireless Optoelectronic Device for Interfacing Brain Circuits

提案CBET - 1402803“用于连接脑电路的双向无线光电设备“拟议的研究旨在通过提供一类新的大脑“写入”/“读出”设备来为神经技术领域做出贡献，该设备具有与神经电路双向通信的独特属性。 通过为更广泛的科学界开发新技术，该项目旨在对基础神经科学产生影响，特别是对灵长类动物，同时通过与大脑电路的直接电子通信为治疗严重神经功能受损的个体提供重要的技术。所提出的技术是基于创新性地使用特殊类型的光电材料，结合先进的微器件设计和制造，从微电路到移动的微系统。PI寻求开发一种紧凑的组合刺激/记录设备系统平台，用于以以前不可能的空间和时间特异性访问大脑回路。此外，与脑电路的完全无线、高速双向电子通信链路将能够在体内移动的动物模型中测试新能力，以用于基础脑科学和神经技术开发目的。技术描述：这个神经工程项目的目标是使我们能够了解大脑的关键部分，即映射目标脑回路，以推进对由数百或数千个个体神经细胞组成的单元如何作为动力系统的基本理解，同时计算例如灵长类动物对诸如到达和抓握的运动动作的规划，感知和其他感官形式。虽然功能性磁共振设备可以可视化功能性大脑的亚厘米成像，但我们目前缺乏在空间和时间水平上跟踪网络动态的完整能力，这定义了最有意义，但最简单的真正功能性计算电路。术语“中尺度”最近被引入来指定这样的基本模块化结构，其可能包含数百至数千个相互作用的神经细胞。 PI建议设计一个强大的无线神经技术平台，为包括非人类灵长类动物在内的动物模型的目标大脑微电路之间建立实时连接。该系统的工程核心是一个紧凑，轻便的光子微电子设备，植入和头戴在一个主题，与高速射频链接到外部信息处理系统。总之，目的是实现一个宽带双向无线神经接口的目标感兴趣的大脑区域。双向性意味着同时进行神经记录和神经刺激。所提出的高速无线设备技术完成了这一任务，同时记录和刺激的空间和时间分辨率为单神经元级的分辨率。具有用于神经回路的精确控制的时空模式化神经刺激能力的装置使得能够通过精确控制的刺激（激励和/或抑制）来跟踪和识别相关联的扰动大脑状态的动态轨迹。 记录的神经信号捕获多个探测点上的所有相关时间信息，即动作电位（尖峰）、高频振荡场电位（LFP）和潜在的低频脑节律。 该项目融合了复杂的微电子学和计算神经科学。嵌入在研究中的是多个学科组成部分：光子学，微生物学（光遗传学），材料科学和纳米纤维加工，超低功耗集成电路设计，高速微波遥测，以及用于神经信号处理的计算机工程硬件/软件。

Proposal CBET - 1402803 "Bidirectional Wireless Optoelectronic Device for Interfacing Brain Circuits"The proposed research aims to contribute to the field of neurotechnology by providing a new class of brain "write-in"/ "read-out" devices with unique attributes for bidirectional communication with neural circuits. By developing the new technology for the broader scientific community, the project aims to have an impact on basic neuroscience, especially for primates, while providing an important piece of technology to development of future prospects for treating severely neurologically impaired individuals via direct electronic communications with brain circuits. The proposed technology is based by innovative use of special types of optoelectronic materials combined with advanced microdevice design and fabrication from microcircuits to mobile microsystems. The PI seeks to develop a compact, combinatorial stimulating/recording device system platform for accessing the brain circuits at spatial and temporal specificity not possible before. Further, the entirely wireless, high speed bidirectional electronic communication link to brain circuits will enable testing the new capability in in-vivo mobile animal models for fundamental brain science and neurotechnology development purposes.Technical Description: The goal of this neuroengineering project is to enable access to a crucial piece in our understanding of the brain, namely mapping of targeted brain circuits to advance fundamental understanding of how units composed of hundreds or thousands of individual neural cells act as a dynamical system while computing e.g. a primate's planning of such motor action as reaching and grasping coupled to perception and other sensory modalities. While sub-centimeter imaging of the functioning brain can be visualized by functional magnetic resonance equipment, we currently lack the full ability to track network dynamics at the spatial and temporal level which defines the most meaningful, yet simplest truly functional computational circuit. The term "mesoscale" has been recently introduced to designate such basic modular constructs which might contain hundreds to thousands of interacting neural cells. The PI proposes to engineer a powerful wireless neurotechnology platform to create a real-time link between targeted brain microcircuits for animal models including non-human primates. The engineering core of the system is a compact, lightweight photonic-microelectronic device, implanted and head-mounted on a subject, with high-speed radio-frequency link to external information processing systems. In summary the aim is to implement a broadband bidirectional wireless neural interface for targeted brain areas of interest. Bidirectionality implies simultaneous neural recording and neural stimulation. The proposed high-speed wireless device technology accomplishes this task for simultaneous recording and stimulation with spatial and temporal resolution to single neuron-level resolution. Having means for precisely controlled spatio-temporally patterned neurostimulation capability of neural circuits enables the tracking and identification of the dynamical trajectories of the associated perturbed brain states by precisely controlled stimulus (excitation and/or inhibition). The recorded neural signals capture all of their relevant temporal information across the multiple probe points, namely as action potentials (spikes), high-frequency oscillations field potentials (LFP), and the underlying low-frequency brain rhythms. The project is a fusion of sophisticated microelectronics and computational neuroscience. Embedded in the research are multiple disciplinary components: photonics, microbiology (of optogenetics), material science and nanofabrication processing, ultralow-power integrated circuits design, high speed microwave telemetry, and computer engineering hardware/software for neural signal processing..