CAREER: Multi-channel, Sub-microliter Implants for Selective Neuromodulation

生物电子医学可以彻底改变我们在提供有效的非阿片类疼痛管理方面的医学实践，并为癫痫、创伤性脑损伤、高血压、类风湿关节炎、睡眠呼吸暂停、尿失禁和难治性抑郁症等疾病提供令人信服的替代药物。生物电子药物是一种神经技术设备，它可以读取和调节人体神经系统的电活动，以控制、调节或恢复功能。使用这些设备持续监测生理生物标志物并自主提供治疗的医疗保健将显著减轻临床医生的负担，提高患者的依从性，减少药物不良反应和滥用。然而，目前的生物电子医疗设备太大，无法针对小神经进行有效治疗，对大神经进行不加区分的刺激导致明显的脱靶效应，并且缺乏闭环自动化处理的复杂性。该项目将通过电路设计、系统开发和闭环控制方面的关键创新来解决这些问题。通过与行业专家合作，通过多层次的教育计划来加强当地半导体和神经技术劳动力，扩大项目影响。该项目将开发一种无线、小型化的神经技术接口，可以选择性地记录和刺激较大神经内的特定神经束。拟议的工作将在三个方面取得进展。首先，该项目将开发并验证一种新的刺激技术，该技术可以显著减少植入物的体积，并提高其安全性和可靠性，无论电极尺寸如何。其次，该项目将开发一种新的双向无线链路，通过共同设计记录、刺激和无线电路，其效率将超过最先进的水平。最后，该项目将使用这个新的接口来评估闭环实验中的机器学习优化系统，该实验针对动物模型的坐骨神经中的特定神经束。该项目由ECCS和促进竞争研究的既定计划（EPSCoR）共同资助。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Bioelectronic medicine can revolutionize how we practice medicine in offering effective non-opioid pain management, and providing compelling alternatives to other pharmaceuticals for conditions such as epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, high blood pressure, rheumatoid arthritis, sleep apnea, urinary incontinence, and treatment-resistant depression. Bioelectronic medicines are neurotechnology devices that read and modulate the electrical activity of the body’s nervous system to control, regulate, or restore function. Medical care that uses these devices to continuously monitor physiological biomarkers and autonomously deliver therapy will significantly reduce clinician burden, improve patient compliance, and reduce adverse drug reactions and abuse. However, current bioelectronic medicine devices are too large to target small nerves for effective therapy, deliver indiscriminate stimulation on large nerves resulting in significant off-target effects, and lack the sophistication for closed-loop, automated processing. This project will address these issues through key innovations in circuit design, system development, and closed-loop control. Project impact is extended through a multi-tiered education initiative to bolster the local semiconductor and neurotechnology workforce with collaboration from industry experts.This project will develop a wireless, miniaturized neurotechnology interface that selectively records and stimulates from specific fascicles within a larger nerve. The proposed work will make advances in three areas. First, the project will develop and validate a new stimulation technique that significantly reduces the volume of an implant and improves its safety and reliability regardless of electrode size. Second, the project will develop a new bi-directional wireless link that exceeds state-of-the-art efficiencies by co-design recording, stimulation, and wireless circuitry. Lastly, the project will use this new interface to evaluate machine learning optimization systems in a closed-loop experiment that targets specific nerve fascicles in the sciatic nerve of an animal model.This project is jointly funded by ECCS and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.