Closed-loop Neural Interface Technologies (Close-NIT) Network Plus
Lead Research Organisation:
Newcastle University
Department Name: Biosciences Institute
Abstract
The human brain is the most complex dynamical system that we know of. Its anatomical structure is characterised by bidirectional connections and recurrent feedback loops between a hundred billion cells that support the representation, processing and storage of information. Its behaviour is expressed through bidirectional connections and sensorimotor feedback loops with the body, the environment and other individuals, which in turn alter the strength of connections within the brain, allowing us to learn, understand, move and communicate. Now, for the first time in our evolutionary history, we are beginning to augment these biological connections with new, artificial connections to repair, restore and enhance our neural circuits and cognitive functions. Neural interfaces allow brain activity to be sensed and processed by electronic circuitry, which can then return signals back to the nervous system in real-time through neurostimulation to form a direct 'closed loop' between the brain and technology. Potential applications include neuroprosthetic devices to replace connections lost through injury, neurorehabilitation devices to drive plastic changes in brain circuits, and neuromodulation devices to control the aberrant patterns of activity associated with many neurological disorders. In future, we may be able to regulate our mental states, communicate in new ways with computers and machines, and ultimately merge biological and artificial intelligence. However, despite the current hype around neurotechnology, there are many unanswered questions that are uniquely posed by closed-loop applications of neural interfaces. Some of these are technological in nature, such as how best can we simultaneously monitor and manipulate electrical brain activity without cross-talk? Some are computational, such as what algorithms should we use to transform sensed brain activity into stimulation and how can these be implemented in real-time on wearable or implantable devices? Some are scientific, such as how do neural circuits respond to closed-loop interfaces and how can this be harnessed for therapeutic benefit? Most importantly, there are ethical questions, such as how can we ensure these technologies are safe, beneficial and respectful of the autonomy and individuality of users. While science traditionally progresses by tackling problems in isolation, closed-loop interfaces require a paradigm shift in transdisciplinary working. In particular, we seek to uncover the emergent phenomena, scientific mechanisms and clinical applications that can only be revealed in real-time bidirectional interactions between brains and technology. Therefore, we will build a network to connect experts from academia, industry and medicine to address the key challenges facing closed-loop neural interfaces, accelerating scientific and technological progress while engaging with ethicists, users and the public to ensure we advance responsibly into the neuroengineered future.
Organisations
- Newcastle University (Collaboration, Lead Research Organisation)
- UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD (Collaboration)
- University of Manchester (Collaboration)
- University College London (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE (Collaboration)
- IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON (Collaboration)
- University of Bristol (Collaboration)
Title | Concurrent EEG and tES |
Description | The nature of TI stimulation is that the applied frequencies are typically in the kHz range while EEG activity is generally <100Hz. By introducing an 8th-order low-pass filter between the EEG electrodes and amplifier Dr. Edward's team is able to effectively cancel out the applied stimulation leaving only clean EEG. This means they can stimulate electrically and record the brain activity with no artefact. |
Type Of Material | Technology assay or reagent |
Year Produced | 2023 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | N/A |
Title | Phase-locked Temporal Interference Stimulation |
Description | Dr. Edward's team combined the newly developed pulsed TI hardware with their pre-existing ability to phase-lock stimulation to ongoing brain activity. To do so they extracted the EEG signal after the hardware LPF and apply the endpoint-corrected Hilbert Transform (ecHT) to extract instantaneous phase. When a target phase is reached a signal is sent to the pulsed TI device and a 10ms pulse of TI stimulation is delivered. |
Type Of Material | Technology assay or reagent |
Year Produced | 2023 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | NA |
Title | Pulsed Temporal Interference Stimulation |
Description | Dr Edward have developed the hardware and firmware required to allow us to deliver temporal interference (TI) in short pulses. In brief, they used two direct digital synthesisers (DDS), each capable of stimulating at one of two frequencies. They maintained one DDS at our carrier frequency (2kHz) and rapidly switch the second DDS between 2 and 2.1kHz. By switching the second DDS to 2.1kHz for a short duration of 10ms they are able to create 1 period of a 100Hz TI envelope. They can then deliver these short pulses at an frequency we chose in order to stimulate the brain. |
Type Of Material | Technology assay or reagent |
Year Produced | 2023 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | N/A |
Title | Software to identify seizure truncation |
Description | Software identifies which brain regions are involved in seizures or not, and identifies those seizures with truncation |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2024 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | Helps to identify brain regions involved in seizures |
Title | Dataset of non-truncated seizures |
Description | 68 seizures which did not truncate, along with their brain region assignment |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2023 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | N/A |
Description | Dr Alejandro Lombarte |
Organisation | University of Cambridge |
Department | Department of Engineering |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Funding for the following pilot study has been approved: "Fascicle-selective and Velocity-sorting nerve interfacing Cuffs for bladder control (FaVe-Cuffs)" |
Collaborator Contribution | The research has not yet commenced. |
Impact | The research has not yet commenced. |
Start Year | 2023 |
Description | Dr Aleksandra Vuckovic |
Organisation | University of Glasgow |
Department | School of Engineering Glasgow |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Funding for the following pilot study has been approved: "Improving Neurofeedback Efficacy with Brain-Responsive Music" |
Collaborator Contribution | The research has not yet commenced. |
Impact | The research has not yet commenced. |
Start Year | 2024 |
Description | Dr Edward Rhodes |
Organisation | Imperial College London |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Funding for the following pilot study has been approved: "Closed-loop temporal interference stimulation (TI) to alleviate Bradykinesia in Parkinson's Disease" |
Collaborator Contribution | The research has not yet commenced. |
Impact | The research has not yet commenced. |
Start Year | 2023 |
Description | Dr Kirill Aristovich/ Dr Ahmad S Idil |
Organisation | University College London |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Funding for the following pilot study has been approved: "Demonstration of Selective Vagus Nerve Stimulation (sVNS) in Humans" |
Collaborator Contribution | The research has not yet commenced. |
Impact | The research has not yet commenced. |
Start Year | 2024 |
Description | Dr Luke Bashford |
Organisation | Newcastle University |
Department | Newcastle University Medical School |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Funding for the following pilot study has been approved: "Large Scale Stimulation Assays for Closed-Loop Optimal Control of Neural Populations". |
Collaborator Contribution | The research has not yet commenced. |
Impact | The research has not yet commenced. |
Start Year | 2024 |
Description | Dr Peter Taylor |
Organisation | Newcastle University |
Department | School of Computing Science |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Funding for the following pilot study has been approved: "TruSty [Closed-loop Neural Interface Technologies - Truncating Seizure Pathways]" |
Collaborator Contribution | The research has not yet commenced. |
Impact | The research has not yet commenced. |
Start Year | 2023 |
Description | Dr Petra Fischer |
Organisation | University of Bristol |
Department | School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Funding for the following pilot study has been approved: "Refining closed-loop vibrotactile stimulation tools to ameliorate dysfunctional network activity in dystonia" |
Collaborator Contribution | The research has not yet commenced. |
Impact | The research has not yet commenced. |
Start Year | 2023 |
Description | Dr Rob Wykes |
Organisation | University College London |
Department | Institute of Neurology |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Funding for the following pilot study has been approved: "Closed-loop thalamic stimulation to speed recovery of arousal post-seizure". |
Collaborator Contribution | The research has not yet commenced. |
Impact | The research has not yet commenced. |
Start Year | 2024 |
Description | Dr Tiago Costa |
Organisation | Newcastle University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Funding for the following pilot study has been approved: "Transauricular vagus nerve stimulation with closed-loop cardiac, respiratory and electroencephalography biofeedback: a pilot study in healthy volunteers" |
Collaborator Contribution | The research has not yet commenced. |
Impact | The research has not yet commenced. |
Start Year | 2023 |
Description | Dr Wako Yoshida |
Organisation | University of Oxford |
Department | Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Funding for the following pilot study has been approved: "Adaptive close-loop decoded neurofeedback for social training in autism spectrum disorders" |
Collaborator Contribution | The research has not yet commenced. |
Impact | The research has not yet commenced. |
Start Year | 2023 |
Description | Dr Yujiang Wang / Dr Chris Thornton |
Organisation | Newcastle University |
Department | School of Computing Science |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Funding for the following pilot study has been approved: "closeNIT - Closed-Loop Chrono-Exercise" |
Collaborator Contribution | The research has not yet commenced. |
Impact | The research has not yet commenced. |
Start Year | 2024 |
Description | Dr. Joram van Rheede |
Organisation | University of Oxford |
Department | Oxford Neuroscience |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Funding for the following pilot study has been approved: "Balance4Sleep: Balanced and Adaptive Loop Algorithms for Neuromodulation of CMT in Epilepsy - improving Sleep outcomes". |
Collaborator Contribution | The research has not yet commenced. |
Impact | The research has not yet commenced. |
Start Year | 2024 |
Description | Prof Alex Casson / Dr Mahdi Saleh |
Organisation | University of Manchester |
Department | School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Funding for the following pilot study has been approved: "closeNIT - On-device machine learning for closed-loop neuromodulation" |
Collaborator Contribution | The research has not yet commenced. |
Impact | The research has not yet commenced. |
Start Year | 2024 |
Description | Prof Anne Lingford-Hughes / Dr Danielle Kurtin |
Organisation | Imperial College London |
Department | Division of Brain Sciences |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Funding for the following pilot study has been approved: "Developing personalised Temporal Interference Stimulation of reward circuitry to improve decision making." |
Collaborator Contribution | The research has not yet commenced. |
Impact | The research has not yet commenced. |
Start Year | 2024 |
Description | Prof Patrick Degenaar / Dr Peimin Yuan |
Organisation | Newcastle University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Funding for the following pilot study has been approved: "closeNIT - Combined electronic and optogenetic cortical stimulation for visual prosthetics ". |
Collaborator Contribution | The research has not yet commenced. |
Impact | The research has not yet commenced. |
Start Year | 2024 |
Description | Professor George Malliaras / Dr Amparo Guemes |
Organisation | University of Cambridge |
Department | Department of Engineering |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Funding for the following pilot study has been approved: "closeNIT - Neuro-Metabolic Dynamics in Epilepsy (NeuMeDE)" |
Collaborator Contribution | The research has not yet commenced. |
Impact | The research has not yet commenced. |
Start Year | 2024 |
Title | Controlling software for taVNS closed-loop |
Description | Java custom software for detection of respiratory cycle phases and automated delivery of respiratory-gated taVNS |
Type Of Technology | Software |
Year Produced | 2024 |
Impact | N/A |
URL | https://github.com/NewcastleRSE/Java_taVNS/tree/main |
Description | Challenges and Opportunities for Closed-loop Neurotechnologies in the Clinic |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Around 60 people attended this 2-day event hosted by the University of Oxford, a partner institution. 16 guest speakers gave 25 minute talks on areas of research such as Challenges in Neurology, Psychiatry and Cognition, Challenges in Materials and Management, Challenges in Peripheral and Non-invasive Stimulation and on Novel Methods with Clinical Potential. The event included 3 discussion sessions where participants further explored the topics of each research area. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | CloseNIT Website |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The website serves as a tool for advertising the CloseNIT Network by providing information on the aims and workstreams, documents relating to funding calls, information of upcoming events and a sign-up pages. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023,2024 |
URL | https://research.ncl.ac.uk/close-nit/ |
Description | Closed-loop Neuromodulation for Dementia |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | This was a hybrid seminar with international reach which aspired to advance this nascent field by exploring the rationale, challenges and opportunities for closed-loop neuromodulation in dementia and help seed its interdisciplinary research network. It included a series of short stimulating talks by leading experts in the field and group discussions. The seminar was hosted by the Closed-loop Neural Interface Technologies (Close-NIT) network and the UK Dementia Research Institute (UK-DRI) Centre at Imperial College London (ICL). |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
URL | https://research.ncl.ac.uk/close-nit/eventsfundingcalls/seminarclosed-loopneuromodulationfordementia... |
Description | How does the brain generate movement? a neural population view |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | In this hybrid seminar the speaker discussed some of the ongoing efforts to understand how the brain generates behaviour through the light of neural manifolds. This work combines neural and behavioural recordings from monkeys, mice, and humans, and computational models. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | MRS Boston 2023 conference |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Presentation of progress in project to an audience of ~100 researchers from various institutions. The research was well received by the audience. This sparked numerous conversations about impact, challenges, practicalities, and future of this research. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Network+ Meeting: Exploring the future of closed-loop neural interface technologies |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | This was a 2-day event hosted by the lead institution and was attended by 70 participants. The aim was to foster network amongst members and the event also aspired to exploring the future of closed-loop neural interface technologies. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
URL | https://research.ncl.ac.uk/close-nit/eventsfundingcalls/networkmeetingseptember2023/ |
Description | Online Launch Event |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Around 60 people attended a 3hr event to kick-off and advertise the CloseNIT Network. 5 guest speakers gave 20 minute talks on areas of research which are relevant to the Network, sparking questions and discussion amongst participants. Information was given regarding the first Network funding call, encouraging researchers to apply for the opportunity and signposting them to the application form and corresponding guidance. The event was recorded and posted on the CloseNIT website. We received a considerable increase in members signing up to the Network as a result of this event, and 22 high-quality funding applications. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://research.ncl.ac.uk/close-nit/eventsfundingcalls/closenitnetworkpluskick-offevent/ |
Description | PPIE in Neurotech workshop |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Hybrid workshop to discuss what "success" in PPIE in neurotechnology looks like and where to find the best examples to learn from. Included contributions from patients, clinicians, researchers and regulators. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | R4N conference |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Patients, carers and/or patient groups |
Results and Impact | Dr. Wako's research assistant attended the R4N conference and engaged with two members of the autistic community - a student and a representative of the European Council of Autistic People (EUCAP). In an online meeting in January, they discussed the project with three people, including the president of EUCAP. They gave us valuable insights into their experiences with artificial intelligence agents, their perspectives and their needs in our AI-driven society. They expressed their satisfaction and confirmed their willingness to participate in the co-production of this project. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
URL | https://neuromodplus.org/event2/respect-for-neurodevelopment-network-annual-event/ |
Description | Restoring Communication with Intracortical Brain-Computer Interfaces |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Hybrid seminar led by the University of Cambridge. Speaker is one of the world's foremost experts on the application of image-guided surgical techniques to functional neurosurgical procedures such as the placement of deep brain stimulators for movement disorders, epilepsy, pain, and psychiatric diseases. His major research focus is in brain-machine interfaces for the restoration of movement and communication for people with severe neurological disorders. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
URL | https://research.ncl.ac.uk/close-nit/eventsfundingcalls/seminarrestoringcommunicationwithintracortic... |
Description | User requirements for a wearable device |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Patients, carers and/or patient groups |
Results and Impact | Dr Fischer has reached out to five patients after participating in her study to discuss their user requirements for a wearable device that could potentially provide daily symptom relief. The key requirements were that the EEG-based vibrotactile stimulation device should be discreet and lightweight. All patients registered strong interest in providing feedback on device designs and participate in future studies to test a mobile device over multiple consecutive weeks. Dr Fischer also met with a physiotherapist specialising on movement disorders to discuss her preliminary study findings. The physiotherapist confirmed that a device that could intermittently alleviate dystonic muscle contractions would be very useful for increasing the range of possible movements and stretched during a physiotherapy session. She also said that she would be keen to test a device in her practise if one would be made available. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |