Project Grant 2219811

This $600,000 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Division of Information and Intelligent Systems, under the Computer and Information Science and Engineering program (CFDA 47.070), will fund research at The Pennsylvania State University to develop a fully wireless, flexible electrical-acoustic implant for high-resolution neural stimulation and recording across large-scale brain circuits. The implant is intended to provide minimally invasive ultrasound neuromodulation and neural recording of the entire brain with sub-200 micrometer spatial resolution. Key research activities include optimizing a thin-film, two-dimensional ultrasound array on a flexible substrate using selectable one-dimensional arrays and thin-film transistor switches, achieving high efficiency and pressure output from selectable arrays, and developing machine learning models to guide the focused ultrasound beam based on implant flexibility and post-implantation effects. The three-year award period beginning August 1, 2022 will support system-level demonstrations and establish feasibility of the flexible implantable system to further understanding of neural and cognitive systems at large temporal and spatial scales.