SBIR-STTR Award

This proposal will develop an implant capable of recording and wirelessly transmitting electrophysiological signals from a wide variety of anatomical locations for the purposes of prosthesis control. Such an implant does not exist and will be of great benefit to the prosthesis community. Additionally, an implant with these capabilities will have a significant number of other clinical applications including providing feedback to neurostimulators for better therapeutic treatments and detecting biomarkers for diseases like epilepsy, stroke, and Parkinson?s disease. This implant will also have great utility for neuroscientists and neuroengineers by providing a means to wirelessly collect data from freely behaving subjects in their research. This proposal lays the foundation for producing an implant that can satisfy the demanding requirements for this wide range of applications. During Phase I, research and development will focus on the most critical requirements to make the proposed device a reality. This project will result in a next generation implant that can meet all the practical requirements of a clinical device, while greatly expanding the functionality and applications not possible with current medical device technologies.

The goal of this proposal is to develop an implant capable of wirelessly streaming electrophysiological signals and controlling stimulation pulses from a wide variety of anatomical targets for the purposes of neuroscience research. Such an implant does not exist and would be of great benefit to the neuroscience community. There is a well-recognized need among neuroscientists to monitor a large number of neural signals from freely behaving animals from an implanted system. There is a similar need for an implantable, high channel count neural stimulator. The BRAIN initiative has intensified this need as no commercial solution exists for an implanted device capable of streaming a large number of neural signals or controlling a large number of stimulation channels. ---------- A wireless implant capable of communication with large populations of neurons will be developed for manufacturing and production in this project. The product will have effective wireless data rates significantly higher than state of the art wireless neural interfaces. This will improve wireless communication with neurons, and is a promising step towards transformative treatments: sight, sound, smell, vestibular sensation, and motor capability could be studied at levels outside the reach of current state of the art devices (e.g., retinal prostheses). The proposed product will connect with a variety of neural sensors and stimulators, providing significant tools for researchers and clinicians during their study of the nervous system. Phase II will focus on the transition to manufacturing and culminate in a pilot run of manufactured units. This product will help clinical researchers study a diverse range of nervous system injuries and disorders. The ultimate medical technology born from this project will offer treatments unattainable with todays medical technologies.