Neurophotonic-electronic brain-machine interface system

神经光子电子脑机接口系统

• 批准号: RTI-2020-00407
• 负责人: Shastri, Bhavin
• 金额: $ 10.93万
• 依托单位: Queen's University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Research Tools and Instruments
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2019-01-01 至 2020-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=693795
• 关键词: Neurophotonic; electronic; brain; machine; interface

Brain mapping and unlocking the brain circuitry, can open incredible opportunities for the diagnosis and treatment of brain disorders from Parkinson and Alzheimer's disease to mental disorders. This has been the driving force of the scientific community's effort and has resulted in several ground-breaking innovations in brain study methods (eg. optogenetics, connectomics, magnetic resonance imaging, supercomputers for simulating the brain etc.). Each of these approaches faces either technological or fundamental challenges. As such, a complete mapping of the networks of billions of neurons in the brain remains a challenge.******We are developing an electronic-photonic brain-machine interface system for simultaneous optical stimulation of the brain cortex along with electrical recording of neurons. Our system is composed of microlasers and light-switchable graphene-based electrodes. The microlasers are engineered to be analogous to biological neurons and emit spikes' as light pulses with high temporal resolution and micron-scale spatial resolution. These light spikes switch on the graphene-based electrodes on the cortex to deliver the required electric voltage for neurons stimulation.******For modulating the microlasers, we are requesting an arbitrary waveform generator (AWG). An AWG can output user-defined arbitrary shape waveforms at high speeds that can mimic real-world signals (eg. spikes). The electrodes must be ultra-conformal to the complex topology of the brain's cortex to enable stable stimulation and recording of the neurons. Therefore, the electrodes' substrate must be ultra-thin, transparent to light, and biocompatible. Parylene is the only polymer that can satisfy these requirements. We are requesting a parylene deposition system (ie. a coater) to make the substrates for fabricating the light-switchable graphene electrodes. ******This equipment will support our collaborative and interdisciplinary research program, and the training of our 19 HQP across three departments (eng. physics, electrical eng., neuroscience) in addition to 10+ HQP of our collaborators (chemical eng., chemistry) as part of the NSERC CREATE-MAPS program who access our lab equipment (such as e-beam evaporator) on a daily basis. Striving for diversity including balanced gender representation, inclusivity and advancement of under-represented groups, our team consists of a female postdoc (Venezuela), 3 female graduate and 5 female undergrad students, and 2 graduate students from underrepresented minority.******Enabled by the bidirectional communication between the biological and artificial microlaser neurons, the proposed system is capable of copying' a complex unknown network of neurons in the brain to a known network of hardware components on a chip. The copied network can be used to unlock the communication patterns of the brain. If successful on a large-scale, such a brain mapping technique could be used to study neurological disorders that affect 1 billion people globally.

大脑绘图和解锁大脑回路可以为诊断和治疗从帕金森病、阿尔茨海默氏病到精神障碍等脑部疾病提供难以置信的机会。这一直是科学界努力的驱动力，并导致了大脑研究方法的多项突破性创新（例如光遗传学、连接组学、磁共振成像、模拟大脑的超级计算机等）。这些方法都面临技术或基本挑战。因此，对大脑中数十亿个神经元网络的完整映射仍然是一个挑战。******我们正在开发一种电子-光子脑-机接口系统，用于同时对大脑皮层进行光学刺激，同时对神经元进行电记录。我们的系统由微型激光器和光可切换石墨烯电极组成。微型激光器被设计为类似于生物神经元，并以高时间分辨率和微米级空间分辨率的光脉冲形式发射尖峰。这些光尖峰会打开皮层上基于石墨烯的电极，以提供神经元刺激所需的电压。*****为了调制微型激光器，我们需要一个任意波形发生器 (AWG)。 AWG 可以高速输出用户定义的任意形状波形，从而模拟真实世界的信号（例如尖峰）。电极必须与大脑皮层的复杂拓扑结构超一致，才能稳定地刺激和记录神经元。因此，电极的基底必须超薄、透光且具有生物相容性。聚对二甲苯是唯一能够满足这些要求的聚合物。我们需要聚对二甲苯沉积系统（即涂层机）来制造用于制造光可切换石墨烯电极的基板。 ******该设备将支持我们的协作和跨学科研究项目，以及对三个部门（物理、电气工程、神经科学）的 19 个 HQP 以及我们的合作者（化学工程、化学）的 10 多个 HQP 进行培训，作为 NSERC CREATE-MAPS 计划的一部分，他们每天都会使用我们的实验室设备（例如电子束蒸发器）。为了实现多样性，包括平衡的性别代表性、包容性和弱势群体的进步，我们的团队由一名女博士后（委内瑞拉）、3 名女研究生和 5 名女本科生以及 2 名来自代表性不足的少数族裔的研究生组成。******通过生物和人工微激光神经元之间的双向通信，所提出的系统能够复制“复杂的未知数” 大脑中的神经元网络到芯片上已知的硬件组件网络。复制的网络可用于解锁大脑的通信模式。如果大规模成功，这种大脑绘图技术可用于研究影响全球 10 亿人的神经系统疾病。