iPROBE: in-vivo Platform for the Real-time Observation of Brain Extracellular activity
Lead Research Organisation:
Imperial College London
Department Name: Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Organisations
- Imperial College London (Lead Research Organisation)
- UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD (Collaboration)
- Georgia Institute of Technology (Collaboration)
- Michigan State University (Collaboration)
- University College London (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER (Collaboration)
- KEELE UNIVERSITY (Collaboration)
- Newcastle University (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON (Collaboration)
Publications
Frehlick Z
(2016)
Improving neural spike sorting performance using template enhancement
Leene L
(2017)
Time Domain Processing Techniques Using Ring Oscillator-Based Filter Structures
in IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I: Regular Papers
Leene L
(2018)
A 0.006 mm 2 1.2 $\mu$ W Analog-to-Time Converter for Asynchronous Bio-Sensors
in IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits
Leene L
(2017)
A 0.016 mm2 12 b $\Delta \Sigma $ SAR With 14 fJ/conv. for Ultra Low Power Biosensor Arrays
in IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I: Regular Papers
Liu Y
(2018)
Event-driven processing for hardware-efficient neural spike sorting.
in Journal of neural engineering
Liu Y
(2020)
Bidirectional Bioelectronic Interfaces: System Design and Circuit Implications
in IEEE Solid-State Circuits Magazine
| Description | This research has developed new electronic circuits for neural recording applications such as tools used in experimental neuroscience. The current trend is for such systems to record from more and more channels (for example, from arrays of tiny electrodes implanted in the cortex), however given hard constraints dictated by biological limits (e.g. the maximum allowable power/heat dissipation per unit volume of neural tissue), in order for such systems to scale to higher channel counts- significant advances in hardware efficiency are necessary. We have therefore developed new transistor-level circuit techniques, and integrated circuit system designs that place a key focus on resource efficiency (power, area/space, and also communication bandwidth). We have combined our new designs with outcomes of our previous research (low power on-node spike sorting), to do computation locally, within the implant thus to massively reduce the communication bandwidth- transmitting high level information rather than raw data. Specific project outcomes include: - A number of new circuit techniques for achieving low power, low noise, and low silicon area utilization in neural microsystems. - A range of scalable integrated circuits (currently available in 32 and 64-channel versions) for neural recording with local processing and event-driven output. - An complete end-to-end platform (headstage, interface bridge, device drivers, PC and server software) for high-throughput realtime neural activity monitoring/visualization. - Securing the background intellectual property to this invention. Through this project, a number of existing and new collaborations have been forged, researchers trained in multidisciplanary research, and invaluable new know-how has been developed. |
| Exploitation Route | We have published key findings in high impact journals, and presented results at key conference venues (as we continue to do), all of which is made freely available to the scientific community through open access license. We are additionally exploring opportunities to commercialize and/or license the technology we have developed so it becomes available as a product and/or service thus to directly benefit the intended end-user, i.e. the experimental neuroscientists. |
| Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Electronics,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology |
| URL | http://www.imperial.ac.uk/next-generation-neural-interfaces/resources/spike-sorting-platform/ |
| Description | This project developed a series on integrated circuits for recording biopotentials (i.e. observing extracellular neural activity) using implanted electrodes. See 2016 iPROBE devices at: http://www.imperial.ac.uk/next-generation-neural-interfaces/media/silicon-chip-gallery/ These have led to a number of outcomes, including: (1) significant new know-how resulting in several followup projects; (2) an industry-academic partnership leveraging on this know-how; (3) key contribution to policy perspective published by the Royal Society (iHuman); (4) a featured talk at the World Economic Forum. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2017 |
| Sector | Electronics,Healthcare,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
| Impact Types | Economic |
| Description | "Disruptive Semiconductor Technology for Advanced Healthcare Systems" (Platform Grant) |
| Amount | £692,737 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/N002474/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2015 |
| End | 08/2020 |
| Description | "ENGINI: Empowering Next Generation Implantable Neural Interfaces" (Early Career Fellowship) |
| Amount | £1,016,559 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/M020975/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2015 |
| End | 07/2020 |
| Description | "SenseBack: Enabling Technologies for Sensory Feedback in Next-Generation Assistive Devices" (IDEAS Workshop) |
| Amount | £1,444,283 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/M025977/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2015 |
| End | 04/2018 |
| Description | Application Specific ICs for Neural Interfacing - Commercialisation and Market Evaluation |
| Amount | £60,786 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2018 |
| End | 06/2019 |
| Description | Impact Accelerator Award for "Spike Streaming Platform: Community Engagement & Early-Stage Commercialization" |
| Amount | £44,219 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 10/2016 |
| End | 03/2017 |
| Title | Methods for computationally-efficient spike sorting (for hardware implementation) |
| Description | Have developed a number of methods for neural spike processing including feature extraction and classification, adaptive spike detection, template building/training and spike denoising. Also proposed new hardware architectures for implementing online, realtime spike sorting. |
| Type Of Material | Data analysis technique |
| Year Produced | 2013 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Other researchers around the world are using/applying our methods to their data. |
| Description | ENGINI (UCL, GeorgiaTech, MSU, Newcastle) |
| Organisation | Georgia Institute of Technology |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Developing a holistic methodology for the design, manufacture and test of mm-scale neural implants. |
| Collaborator Contribution | UCL - micropackaging Newcastle University - experimental neuroscience Michigan State University - neural signal processing Georgia Institute of Technology - wireless/biotelemetry |
| Impact | N/A |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | ENGINI (UCL, GeorgiaTech, MSU, Newcastle) |
| Organisation | Michigan State University |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Developing a holistic methodology for the design, manufacture and test of mm-scale neural implants. |
| Collaborator Contribution | UCL - micropackaging Newcastle University - experimental neuroscience Michigan State University - neural signal processing Georgia Institute of Technology - wireless/biotelemetry |
| Impact | N/A |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | ENGINI (UCL, GeorgiaTech, MSU, Newcastle) |
| Organisation | Newcastle University |
| Department | Institute of Neuroscience |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Developing a holistic methodology for the design, manufacture and test of mm-scale neural implants. |
| Collaborator Contribution | UCL - micropackaging Newcastle University - experimental neuroscience Michigan State University - neural signal processing Georgia Institute of Technology - wireless/biotelemetry |
| Impact | N/A |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | ENGINI (UCL, GeorgiaTech, MSU, Newcastle) |
| Organisation | University College London |
| Department | Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Developing a holistic methodology for the design, manufacture and test of mm-scale neural implants. |
| Collaborator Contribution | UCL - micropackaging Newcastle University - experimental neuroscience Michigan State University - neural signal processing Georgia Institute of Technology - wireless/biotelemetry |
| Impact | N/A |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | NGNI (Newcastle/Leicester) |
| Organisation | Newcastle University |
| Department | Institute of Neuroscience |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Integrated circuit design, hardware implementation, software development, system integration/overall system concept |
| Collaborator Contribution | Newcastle - Experimental Neuroscience/Hardware test/Overall system concept Leicester - Algorithms for Spike Sorting/WaveClus/Software development/Overall system concept |
| Impact | N/A |
| Start Year | 2010 |
| Description | NGNI (Newcastle/Leicester) |
| Organisation | University of Leicester |
| Department | Centre for Systems Neuroscience |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Integrated circuit design, hardware implementation, software development, system integration/overall system concept |
| Collaborator Contribution | Newcastle - Experimental Neuroscience/Hardware test/Overall system concept Leicester - Algorithms for Spike Sorting/WaveClus/Software development/Overall system concept |
| Impact | N/A |
| Start Year | 2010 |
| Description | NGNI Oxford |
| Organisation | University of Oxford |
| Department | Institute of Biomedical Engineering |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Making technology available to the community. |
| Collaborator Contribution | co-funding manufacture of further devices. |
| Impact | Too early. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | SenseBack (Newcastle/Leeds/Keele/Essex/Southampton) |
| Organisation | Keele University |
| Department | Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Integrated Circuit Design |
| Collaborator Contribution | Newcastle - Experimental Neuroscience Leeds - Microfabrication/Electrodes Southampton - Artificial Skin/Tactile sensing Keele - Biomechanics Modelling Essex - Neuroscience/Experimental Validation |
| Impact | N/A |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | SenseBack (Newcastle/Leeds/Keele/Essex/Southampton) |
| Organisation | Newcastle University |
| Department | School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Integrated Circuit Design |
| Collaborator Contribution | Newcastle - Experimental Neuroscience Leeds - Microfabrication/Electrodes Southampton - Artificial Skin/Tactile sensing Keele - Biomechanics Modelling Essex - Neuroscience/Experimental Validation |
| Impact | N/A |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | SenseBack (Newcastle/Leeds/Keele/Essex/Southampton) |
| Organisation | University of Essex |
| Department | School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Integrated Circuit Design |
| Collaborator Contribution | Newcastle - Experimental Neuroscience Leeds - Microfabrication/Electrodes Southampton - Artificial Skin/Tactile sensing Keele - Biomechanics Modelling Essex - Neuroscience/Experimental Validation |
| Impact | N/A |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | SenseBack (Newcastle/Leeds/Keele/Essex/Southampton) |
| Organisation | University of Leeds |
| Department | Faculty of Engineering |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Integrated Circuit Design |
| Collaborator Contribution | Newcastle - Experimental Neuroscience Leeds - Microfabrication/Electrodes Southampton - Artificial Skin/Tactile sensing Keele - Biomechanics Modelling Essex - Neuroscience/Experimental Validation |
| Impact | N/A |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | SenseBack (Newcastle/Leeds/Keele/Essex/Southampton) |
| Organisation | University of Southampton |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Integrated Circuit Design |
| Collaborator Contribution | Newcastle - Experimental Neuroscience Leeds - Microfabrication/Electrodes Southampton - Artificial Skin/Tactile sensing Keele - Biomechanics Modelling Essex - Neuroscience/Experimental Validation |
| Impact | N/A |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | iProbe (MSU - Spike Sorting) |
| Organisation | Michigan State University |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Sharing methods we have developed- co-supervising students. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Applying their expertise to further develop new methods. |
| Impact | Research publication - "Computationally efficient feature denoising filter and selection of optimal features for noise insensitive spike sorting", IEEE EMBC 2014. |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Title | System for a brain-computer interface |
| Description | The invention provides a two-step approach to providing a BCI system. In a first step the invention provides a low-power implantable platform for amplifying and filtering the extracellular recording, performing analogue to digital conversion (ADC) and detecting action potentials in real-time, which is connected to a remote device capable of performing the processor-intensive tasks of feature extraction and spike classification, thus generating a plurality of predetermined templates for each neuron to be used in a second processing step. In the second step the low-power implantable platform amplifies and filters the extracellular recording, performs ADC and detects action potentials, which can be matched on-chip to the predetermined templates generated by the external receiver in the first step. This two-step approach exploits the advantages of both offline and online processing, providing an effective and safe method for performing multiple recordings of single-neuron activity, for research or monitoring applications or for control of a remote device. |
| IP Reference | GB1401613.3 |
| Protection | Patent application published |
| Year Protection Granted | |
| Licensed | No |
| Impact | N/A |
| Title | NGNI Hardware Spike Sorting Platform |
| Description | Spike Sorting is the process of deinterleaving a recorded neural signal in order to determine the firing patterns of individual neurons from the aggregate spike stream. The NGNI platform is an end-to-end solution for on-node, real-time spike sorting. By using a compact, onboard (template based) spike sorting engine, together with offline training (WaveClus-based), a low power real-time solution is achievable. |
| Type Of Technology | Systems, Materials & Instrumental Engineering |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Impact | N/A |
| URL | http://www.imperial.ac.uk/next-generation-neural-interfaces/resources/spike-sorting-platform/ |
| Description | "Neural Interfaces & Microsystems: from State-of-the-Art to the Next Generation", CNRS Workshop on Bioelectronics (Paris, France), 20 June 2016 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Invited speaker at workshop in the CNRS headquarters in Paris, France on Bioelectronics. I gave a talk to an audience of approximately 100 professionals. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | http://www.cnrs.fr/insis/recherche/evenements/workshop-electronique-vivant.htm |
| Description | Friends of Imperial College "Behind the Scenes" tour at NGNI Labs |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Next Generation Neural Interfaces (NGNI) lab hosted a "Behind the Scenes" event for Friends of Imperial College on the evening of 25th January 2017. This event included a welcome and seminar on neural interfaces, lab tours and research demonstrations, and an interactive poster session with the entire group. For photos and further details see the "Behind the Scenes @ NGNI" Event page- see link below. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://www.imperial.ac.uk/neural-interfaces/news-and-events/friendsofic/ |
| Description | Participation in eFutures event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Talk increased awareness about my research in other communities (UK microelectronics community) Regularly invited to participate in more such events. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| URL | http://efutures.ac.uk/ |
| Description | Science Museum "Creative Quarter" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Science Museum "Creative Quarter" (aimed at giving 13-19 year olds) on 13 Nov 2015. Researchers from the Centre for Bio-Inspired Technology (Lorena Freitas, Nicoletta Nicolaou, Dorian Haci, Adrien Rapeaux, Timo Lauteslager, Timothy Constandinou) hosted the section on "brain computer interfaces". |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://info.discoversouthken.com/creative-quarter/ |
| Description | Science Museum Festival "You have been Upgraded" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Science Museum Festival "You have been upgraded" on the topic of human enhancement in 25-29 March 2015. Researchers from the Centre for Bio-Inspired Technology (Ian Williams, Deren Barsakcioglu, Benjamin Evans, Nora Gaspar, Konstantin Nikolic, Timothy Constandinou) hosted the section on "implantable devices". |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/visitmuseum/plan_your_visit/events/festivals/you-have-been-upgraded |
| Description | Talk at Sutton Trust Summer School (6th form students with interest in EEE) entitled: \Microchips and Brain Implants", 4 August 2016. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | 12 students enrolled on the "Sutton Trust" scheme attended a week long event at Imperial College EEE Department which involved various activities such as talks, lab sessions, tours, etc- which I gave a talk entitles "Microchips and Brain Implants". |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | http://www.suttontrust.com/programmes/summer-schools/ |