This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) will provide $432,452 to New York University (NYU) from May 1, 2025 to April 30, 2030 to develop innovative wireless systems for high-resolution neural recording and brain-machine interface applications. The key objectives are to advance wireless power transmission, increase communication bandwidth, and scale up high-channel-count neural electrode arrays. This will involve creating...
This NSF Engineering Program award of $605,320 to North Carolina State University (NC State) supports the development of a flexible, FMRI-compatible neural probe with multi-modal sensing and modulation capabilities. The novel probe is designed to advance understanding of neural circuit dynamics and enable closed-loop neuromodulation for treating neurological disorders. Key product elements include: Flexible, multi-shank neural probe fabricated using polymeric materials to enable deep brain...
This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation (CFDA 47.074 Biological Sciences) is for the development of a piezoelectric inchworm machine to enable automated implantation of miniaturized flexible microelectrodes into the brain for large-scale chronic neural recordings. The $499,991 award will fund the development of the inchworm insertion mechanism and its integration with a 3D-printed skull cap platform. This system aims to address the challenges of electrode buckling and...
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...
The National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke awarded a $3,045,502 Project Grant to the Regents of the University of Michigan on August 18, 2022 under the Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders program (CFDA 93.853). The grant funds the development of optical neural motes to enable high-density neural recording through intact dura in nonhuman primates. Specifically, the University of Michigan will design...
This $275,000 project grant from the National Science Foundation's Engineering Directorate (CFDA 47.041) will fund the development of novel electronic-photonic silicon carbide neural probes for recording and stimulating neural activity. The Georgia Tech Research Corporation will receive funding on behalf of collaborating researchers to design penetrating neural probes made entirely of silicon carbide, a robust material proven to withstand the corrosive brain environment long-term. The probes...
Purdue University was awarded a $1,304,216 Project Grant by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) to develop and test a new platform for high-density 3D electrophysiology and two-photon calcium imaging in freely moving animals. The goal is to enable simultaneous recording of millisecond electrical dynamics and spatial mapping of neural circuit activity during natural behaviors to better understand how the brain processes...
This NSF Engineering program Project Grant award to Brown University, totaling $383,560, will support the development of a large-scale wireless network of microchip sensors for monitoring physiological signals and brain activity. The overarching goal is to create an "all-in-one" approach to build a wireless network of thousands of sub-millimeter size sensors that can efficiently transmit and decode sparse event-driven signals, taking inspiration from the brain's neural activity. The...
This $1,417,500 Project Grant awarded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under the Trans-NIH Research Support program (CFDA 93.310) funds the development of "Electrified Cryo-EM", a novel tool that can kinetically trap biological systems in their metastable, non-equilibrium states. The research aims to unravel the structural changes in neurons during an action potential across multiple length scales, from voltage-gated channel proteins to the synaptic junction. Specifically,...
This Project Grant award of $535,416 from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) under the Discovery and Applied Research for Technological Innovations to Improve Human Health program (CFDA 93.286) aims to develop a technological toolkit that enables noninvasive mapping of ionic activity in the brain of mice. The key products and services to be delivered under this 5-year grant include: Developing a voltage-sensing nanoprobe comprising indocyanine green (ICG) dye...
UNTETHERED HIGH CHANNEL COUNT ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY FOR FREELY-MOVING ANIMALS - PROJECT SUMMARY RECORDING WHOLE-BRAIN ACTIVITY WITH SINGLE NEURON RESOLUTION AND MILLISECOND TIMESCALE PRECISION IS CRUCIAL TO UNDERSTANDING HOW INDIVIDUAL CELLS AND COMPLEX NEURAL CIRCUITS INTERACT IN BOTH TIME AND SPACE. SIMULTANEOUS RECORDING AND STIMULATION OF LARGE POPULATIONS OF NEURONS DISTRIBUTED THROUGHOUT THE BRAIN ARE NEEDED TO RIGOROUSLY EVALUATE THEORIES OF NEURAL COMPUTATION AT THE CELLULAR LEVEL IN MAMMALS, AND EXTENDED LONGITUDINAL RECORDINGS ARE REQUIRED TO ESTABLISH GENERAL PRINCIPLES FOR NEURONAL CIRCUITS/DYNAMICS AND HOW COMPLEX NEURONAL ACTIVITY RELATES TO BEHAVIOR, BOTH TO FURTHER OUR FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE BRAIN, BUT ALSO TO SURFACE UNDERLYING CAUSES OF NEUROLOGICAL AND PSYCHIATRIC CONDITIONS SUCH AS ALZHEIMER'S, PARKINSON'S, TBI, EPILEPSY, AND DEPRESSION, AND TO AID DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL AND MORE EFFECTIVE TREATMENTS. THESE ARE KEY GOALS OF THE BRAIN INITIATIVE, AND THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND LEAFLABS' WILLOW, AN ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY RECORDING SYSTEM DESIGNED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF NOVEL, CLOSE-PACKED 1000-CHANNEL SILICON PROBES ORIGINALLY DEVELOPED BY THE SYNTHETIC NEUROBIOLOGY GROUP AT MIT. THESE ULTRA-HIGH-CHANNEL-COUNT PROBES ALLOW FOR MORE NEURONS TO BE RECORDED SIMULTANEOUSLY, OPENING UP NEW LINES OF SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY, AND THE DENSE PACKING OF THE ELECTRODES PERMITS SPATIAL OVERSAMPLING OF THE NEURONS, ALLOWING FOR AUTOMATED SPIKE SORTING TECHNIQUES WITH GREATLY INCREASED CAPABILITY FOR TRACKING INDIVIDUAL UNITS. ADDITIONALLY, LEAFLABS' CATKIN, A CUSTOM 1000 CHANNEL NEUROSENSING IC CHIP (FILTER, AMPLIFICATION, MULTIPLEXING, AND ANALOG-DIGITAL CONVERSION) HAS BEEN DEVELOPED TO INTEGRATE WITH THESE PROBES, RESULTING IN A PROBE/HEADSTAGE COMBO SUITABLE FOR USE IN FREELY-MOVING ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY EXPERIMENTS THAT REDUCES SIZE, WEIGHT, AND COST EACH BY A FACTOR OF 10 COMPARED TO COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE HEADSTAGES. CURRENTLY, THE CATKIN PROBE/HEADSTAGE COMBO IS TETHERED TO THE WILLOW DAQ SYSTEM BY AN ULTRA THIN AND LIGHTWEIGHT CABLE (A SINGLE SHIELDED 32 AWG TWISTED PAIR), RESULTING IN A SYSTEM IDEAL FOR MANY PROLONGED FREELY MOVING EXPERIMENTS. HOWEVER, IN CERTAIN BEHAVIORAL SETUPS, EVEN A LIGHTWEIGHT, MINIMALIST CABLE IS UNDESIRABLE. FOR EXAMPLE, BECAUSE THE HIGH DATA RATES ARE INCOMPATIBLE WITH APPROACHES USED TO MANAGE THE CABLE TETHER (COMMUTATORS), RESEARCHERS MUST OCCASIONALLY INTERVENE TO DE-TANGLE CABLES; OR, THE PRESENCE OF A TETHER MAY RESULT IN ALTERED BEHAVIOR FROM ANIMALS. TO ADDRESS THESE NEEDS, THIS APPLICATION PROPOSES THE DEVELOPMENT OF A FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND FULLY UNTETHERED 1000-CHANNEL-SIMULTANEOUS 30KHZ IN-VIVO ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL RECORDING MODULE, TO BE MADE AVAILABLE AS A LIGHTWEIGHT ADD-ON TO THE EXTANT WILLOW SYSTEM.