Planning Grant: Collaborative Research: I/UCRC for Building Reliable Advances and Innovation in Neurotechnology (BRAIN)

该项目将汇集亚利桑那州立大学和休斯顿大学的团队与行业合作伙伴共同建立一个研究中心，名为Brain(建立可靠的神经技术进步和创新)，将克服神经技术领域的几个创新挑战：1)创新速度超过对可接受性能的评估速度；2)缺少严格验证安全性、有效性和长期可靠性的标准和监管科学；3)缺乏技术的开放获取和协同合作，阻碍了新技术向市场转让；4)现有技术成本高昂，限制了它们在加强治疗和克服身体残疾方面的效用。此外，脑中心将通过教育/外联协调员的努力，努力纠正科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)领域代表性不足的问题，方法是通过1)新启动的K-12外联计划，让有抱负的STEM参与者接触创新的神经技术，2)中心内针对特定学生组织(例如，墨西哥裔美国工程师和科学家协会，女工程师协会)的本科实习计划，以及3)关注神经空间中对代表性不足群体影响不成比例的问题，从而纠正STEM领域的代表性不足。该中心的愿景是一种协同的、跨学科的方法来开发和验证负担得起的以患者为中心的技术，并使用这些技术来了解神经系统。Brain将利用亚利桑那州立大学(ASU)和休斯顿大学(UH)在神经、认知和康复工程、机器人、临床测试和反向翻译研究方面的专业知识，(A)通过与行业领先者和其他战略合作伙伴的伙伴关系，提高新技术的开发速度和经验验证；(B)使用从单个神经元到有机体系统的多尺度方法，在人类和非人类模型中开发标准和测试技术；(C)表征生物传感器和系统和行为的定量分析工具等新颖创新技术；(D)评估这些技术对生活质量的影响；和(E)减少神经技术给医院和家庭带来的成本负担。

This project will bring together teams from Arizona State University and University of Houston in collaboration with industry partners to establish a research center, called BRAIN (Building Reliable Advances and Innovation in Neurotechnology) that will overcome several innovation challenges in neurotechnology: 1) The pace of innovation exceeds the rate of evaluation for acceptable performance; 2) Standards and regulatory science for rigorous validation of safety, efficacy, and long-term reliability are missing; 3) Lack of open access to technologies and synergistic collaborations impede transfer of novel technologies to the market; and 4) Current technologies are costly, limiting their utility in enhancing treatment and overcoming physical disabilities. In addition, the BRAIN Center, through the efforts of the Education/Outreach coordinator, will work to rectify under-representation in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields by broadening new participation and retaining current participants in STEM through 1) newly initiated K-12 outreach programs that expose aspiring STEM participants to innovative neurotechnologies, 2) undergraduate internship program within the Center that targets specific student organizations (e.g., Society of Mexican-American Engineers and Scientists, Society of Women Engineers), and 3) focusing on problems in the neurological space that affect underrepresented groups disproportionately. The Center's vision is a synergistic, interdisciplinary approach to the development and validation of affordable patient-centered technologies, and use of those technologies in understanding neural systems. BRAIN will leverage expertise in neural, cognitive and rehabilitation engineering, robotics, clinical testing, and reverse-translational research at Arizona State University (ASU) and the University of Houston (UH) to (a) enhance the rate of development and empirical validation of new technologies through partnerships with industry leaders and other strategic partners; (b) develop standards and test technologies in human and non-human models using a multi-scale approach ranging from single neurons to organismal systems; (c) characterize novel and innovative technologies such as biosensors and quantitative analysis tools for systems and behaviors; (d) evaluate the impact of these technologies on quality of life; and (e) reduce the cost burden of neural technologies on hospitals and families.