Award Abstract # 1943990
CAREER: Next-generation of Wirelessly Powered Implantable Neuromodulation and Electrophysiological Recording System for Long-term Behavior Study of Freely-Moving Animals

NSF Org: ECCS
Div Of Electrical, Commun & Cyber Sys
Recipient: UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS
Initial Amendment Date: December 16, 2019
Latest Amendment Date: July 20, 2021
Award Number: 1943990
Award Instrument: Continuing Grant
Program Manager: Svetlana Tatic-Lucic
staticlu@nsf.gov
 (703)292-0000
ECCS
 Div Of Electrical, Commun & Cyber Sys
ENG
 Directorate For Engineering
Start Date: February 1, 2020
End Date: January 31, 2023 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $500,000.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $508,000.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2020 = $139,406.00
FY 2021 = $8,000.00
History of Investigator:
  • Ifana Mahbub (Principal Investigator)
    ifana.mahbub@utdallas.edu
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: University of North Texas
1112 DALLAS DR STE 4000
DENTON
TX  US  76205-1132
(940)565-3940
Sponsor Congressional District: 13
Primary Place of Performance: University of North Texas
3940 N. Elm Street, Suite B210
DENTON
TX  US  76207-7102
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
13
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): G47WN1XZNWX9
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s): CCSS-Comms Circuits & Sens Sys
Primary Program Source: 01002021DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
01002122DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s): 090E, 1045, 104E, 9251
Program Element Code(s): 7564
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.041

ABSTRACT

Large-scale brain activity recording capability can improve understanding of the brain and enable the development of cutting-edge brain-machine interface (BMI) devices. However, for recording neural activities most research to-date still relies on the bulky, rack-mount equipment that is wired to the animal?s head stage. The goal of this research project is to develop a miniaturized implantable wireless neural signal recording and wirelessly powered neural stimulation systems for the next generation of neuroscience research. A miniaturized integrated circuit (IC) chip will be developed that will have the multi-channel recording capability with wireless power and data transmission features. The system will be integrated on a flexible biocompatible substrate to reduce the risk of infection and increase the longevity of the neural interface. The proposed research will lead to a neural implant that can stimulate the neuron and record the neural activities simultaneously, wirelessly, and over a long period of time. These advancements will impact both neuroscience research and neurology, revealing fundamental insights about chronic pain mitigation without requiring any pain relief drugs and therapies for faster post-stroke recovery. As a part of this project, an interactive design module will be developed for the middle and high-school students to teach them the basics of electrical engineering and neuroscience and mentor underrepresented high-school students to spark their interest in pursuing advanced degrees in STEM fields.

The goal of the project is to develop a highly miniaturized fully implantable tetherless wireless neural signal recording and power delivery system for the next generation of neuromodulation. The specific objectives of the project are: 1) investigation of on-chip neural signal recording and stimulation systems that are wirelessly connected via low-power, highly duty-cycled, and reconfigurable Impulse-Radio Ultra-wideband (IR-UWB) radio links, 2) integration of inductively-coupled wireless power transfer (WPT) system to power the brain implants in freely-moving animals (e.g. mice or rats) inside a cage, and 3) long-term behavior study and clinical validation of the proposed system in animal models to find cures for disabilities such as chronic neuropathic pain and post-stroke paralysis. Besides training underrepresented and minority students, the project?s educational goal is to promote interdisciplinary STEM education and research initiatives. The education components of the project include the development of an interactive design module for the 6-12th grade students to teach the basics of electrical engineering and neuroscience, mentoring senior design capstone projects at the Northwest high school?s STEM Academy, hosting international students to enhance their research experience, and recruiting underrepresented high-school students to spark their interest in pursuing advanced degrees in STEM fields. The proposed research work has several exciting elements: First, the design of the front-end read-out circuit that is immune to high DC offset, stimulation artifacts, external interferences, and noise. Second, the integration of a novel multiple-coil WPT system to deliver power efficiently to the mm-sized implants. Third, the investigation of bi-directional data communication (>100 Mbps data rate uplink and >100 kbps downlink) using IR-UWB radios from multiple freely-moving animals. Finally, the assembly of the proposed system on a flexible, biocompatible polymer to easily conform to the brain surface reducing the risk of infection. Collaboration with the industrial partners such as Plexon Inc. and Yield Engineering will not only have translational impacts on the research areas of brain-machine interfaces (BMI), and neuroprosthetics but also help train the students to develop interdisciplinary skill-sets and prepare them for next generation of the job market.

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.

PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH

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(Showing: 1 - 10 of 15)
Tasneem, Nishat T. and Biswas, Dipon K. and Mahbub, Ifana "A CMOS closed-loop miniaturized wireless power transfer system for brain implant applications" Analog Integrated Circuits and Signal Processing , v.105 , 2020 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10470-020-01717-7 Citation Details
Biswas, Dipon K. and Mahbub, Ifana "A 0.09 $\text{mm}^2$ On-Chip Wireless Power Transfer System Designed in 0.5 $\mu$m CMOS Process for Brain Neuromodulation Applications" IEEE Journal of Electromagnetics, RF and Microwaves in Medicine and Biology , v.4 , 2020 https://doi.org/10.1109/JERM.2020.2985568 Citation Details
Biswas, Dipon K. and Sinclair, Melissa and Le, Tien and Pullano, Salvatore Andrea and Fiorillo, Antonino S. and Mahbub, Ifana "Modeling and Characterization of Scaling Factor of Flexible Spiral Coils for Wirelessly Powered Wearable Sensors" Sensors , v.20 , 2020 https://doi.org/10.3390/s20082282 Citation Details
Patwary, Adnan Basir and Mahbub, Ifana "Design, Simulation and Comparison of two 15mm × 15mm UWB Antennas with Modified Ground Patch for High Data-rate Wireless Electrophysiological Recording Application" 2021 IEEE Texas Symposium on Wireless and Microwave Circuits and Systems (WMCS) , 2021 https://doi.org/10.1109/WMCS52222.2021.9493275 Citation Details
Tasneem, Nishat Tarannum and Mahbub, Ifana "A 2.53 NEF 8-bit 10 kS/s 0.5 ?m CMOS Neural Recording Read-Out Circuit with High Linearity for Neuromodulation Implants" Electronics , v.10 , 2021 https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics10050590 Citation Details
Biswas, Dipon K. and A Martinez, Jose H. and Kaul, Ishani and Kaul, Arnav and Mahbub, Ifana "A Miniaturized Highly Efficient Headstage Based Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) System for Optogenetic Stimulation of Freely Moving Animals" 2020 IEEE 14th Dallas Circuits and Systems Conference (DCAS) , 2020 https://doi.org/10.1109/DCAS51144.2020.9330642 Citation Details
Nabanita Saha, Erik Pineda "A Magnetic Sensor based Auto-tracking system for 2.4 GHz Near-field Phased-Array based Wireless Power Transfer System in Neuromodulation Applications" 2023 USNC-URSI National Radio Science Meeting , 2023 Citation Details
Pae, Kieren and Mahbub, Ifana "A Low-Power Asynchronous Level Crossing ADC designed in 180nm CMOS process for Electrophysiological Signal Recording Applications" 2022 IEEE 15th Dallas Circuit And System Conference (DCAS) , 2022 https://doi.org/10.1109/DCAS53974.2022.9845498 Citation Details
Reza, Sakib and Mahbub, Ifana "A Power Budget Analysis for an Implantable UWB Transceiver for Brain Neuromodulation Application" 2022 IEEE USNC-URSI Radio Science Meeting (Joint with AP-S Symposium) , 2022 https://doi.org/10.23919/USNC-URSI52669.2022.9887429 Citation Details
Tasneem, Nishat and Mahbub, Ifana "A Low-power Reconfigurable Readout Circuit with Large DC Offset Reduction for Neural Signal Recording Applications" 2020 IEEE 63rd International Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems (MWSCAS) , 2020 https://doi.org/10.1109/MWSCAS48704.2020.9184526 Citation Details
Kakaraparty, Karthik and Tasneem, Nishat and Mahbub, Ifana "A Low-Power Front-End with Compressive Sensing Circuit for Neural Signal Acquisition Designed in 180 nm CMOS Process" 2020 IEEE 14th Dallas Circuits and Systems Conference (DCAS) , 2020 https://doi.org/10.1109/DCAS51144.2020.9330674 Citation Details
(Showing: 1 - 10 of 15)

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