DURHAM, NH - The University of New Hampshire has been awarded a NH BioMade Pilot Seed Fund for a research project entitled “In situ hybrid electrode assembly for brain machine interface.” Brain-machine interfaces are an important emerging tool that could revolutionize neuroscience, therapeutic approaches, and rehabilitation technologies.
Brain-machine interfaces enable communication between the human nervous system and computing systems, serving as tools to accelerate progress in neuroscience and to repair, replace, or augment neuromuscular function. One challenge is the seamless integration of human tissue with the device. There are many incompatibilities between synthetic electrodes and natural tissue such as mechanical properties and benign materials, which causes high signal-to-noise ratios, infection, inflammation, and device failure. It is also difficult to convert the signal of the living tissues into an electronic signal for the device.
This project, led by Young Jo Kim, assistant professor of chemical engineering, will investigate the use of a naturally occurring biopolymer as the ideal charge-conducting material for brain-machine interfaces.
The New Hampshire Center for Multiscale Modeling and Manufacturing of Biomaterials (NH BioMade) advances the design and manufacture of biomaterials. The NH BioMade Research Seed Funding Opportunity provides support for faculty and post-doctoral associates at New Hampshire universities and colleges to pursue research questions related to the NH BioMade focus areas. Led by the University of New Hampshire, NH BioMade is supported by a National Science Foundation EPSCoR award (#1757371).