RESEARCH
September 2020
Laura M. Ferrari1*, E. Ismailova3*, F.Greco2*
Temporary Tattoo Electrodes (TTEs) are dry and conformable electrodes that are able to capture weak surface electrophysiological signals while being imperceptible for the user. We demonstrated the use and characterised TTEs in a clinical electroencephalography (EEG) monitoring set-up, proving for the first time the compatibility of a dry electrode with magnetoencephalography (MEG) sensors (Figure 1) (1).
RESEARCH
September 2020
Samuel Laferrière1,2, Marco Bonizzato3, Numa Dancause3, & Guillaume Lajoie1,4
The stimulation optimization problem & the rapid evolution of electrode technology:
The development of neurostimulation techniques for targeted biomarker control is an active area of research. New implantable devices are microfabricated with hundreds or thousands of electrodes, holding great potential for precise spatiotemporal stimulation. These interfaces not only serve as a crucial experimental tool to probe computation in neural circuits [7,8,9], but also have applications in neuroprostheses used to aid recovery of motor, sensory and cognitive modalities affected by injury or disease [14-19]. Yet, existing electrical neuromodulation interventions do not fully take advantage of the rich stimulation repertoire advanced electrode technologies offer, instead relying mostly on incomplete and manual input-output mapping, and often on single electrode stimulation [1,6].
RESEARCH
September 2020
Kay Robbins1 Senior Member, IEEE and Tim Mullen2, Member IEEE
Although electroencephalography (EEG) is an important high time-resolution brain imaging technology used in laboratory, clinical, and even consumer applications, consistent handling of signal artifacts continues to be an important challenge. In a recent series of papers [1] [2] [3], we and collaborators compared EEG analysis results across multiple studies, EEG headset types, and preprocessing methods. We considered channel and source signal characteristics and explored time-locked event analysis. The work produced several insights of general interest to EEG researchers, as outlined below.
BOOK REVIEW
May 2020
Bruce Wheeler, PhD
Dr. Bin He is to be congratulated on pulling together an even stronger set of contributors and topics to make the third edition of Neural Engineering (Bin He, editor; Springer) a significant enhancement over the second edition. Easiest to note are the inclusion of 22 chapters (an increase of 3), with nine new topics, and three previous topics presented by new authors with fresh perspectives. Perhaps over half the material is new. A quick additional look shows that the new topics are quite timely.
RESEARCH
May 2020
Dongrui Wu and He He
Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Image Processing and Intelligent Control, School of Artificial Intelligence and Automation, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Email: drwu@hust.edu.cn, hehe91@hust.edu.cn.
A brain-computer interface (BCI) system [1], [2] acquires the brain signal, decodes it, and then translates it into control commands for external devices, so that a user can interact with his/her surroundings using thoughts directly.
RESEARCH
May 2020
Abbas Sohrabpour and Bin He
There seem to be two major principles that govern brain function; functional segregation and functional integration [1]. The brain is a highly specialized, and at the same time, a highly integrated organ. Spatially segregated regions are tuned to perform special functions optimally (functional segregation), and at a higher level, multiple regions need to pull resources together, and integrate functions, to perform complex tasks (functional integration).
OPINION
May 2020
Ricardo Chavarriaga, Sumit Soman, Zach McKinney, Jose L Contreras-Vidal, Stephen F Bush
Introduction
Brain-machine interfacing (BMI) systems are a product of multiple integrated technologies, including sensing modules for biosignal acquisition and processing, computational systems for signal decoding and system control, and actuation modules for providing sensory, mechanical, or electrical feedback to the user, and/or for effecting desired physical actions.
RESEARCH
December 2019
Stanisa Raspopovic and Francesco Maria Petrini
Challenges of leg amputees in everyday life
Leg amputees, while walking, do not trust the prosthesis and rely too much on the healthy leg, reducing mobility, and risking falls [1]. The prosthesis, not being connected with the brain, doesn’t feel as a part of their body.
RESEARCH
December 2019
Original paper: J. E. O’Doherty*, S. Shokur *, L. E. Medina, M. A. Lebedev, M. A. L. Nicolelis. Creating a neuroprosthesis for active tactile exploration of textures (2019). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1908008116
Solaiman Shokur
Sensory neuroprostheses offer the promise of restoring perceptual function to people with impaired sensation [1], [2]. In such devices, diminished sensory modalities (e.g., hearing [3], vision [4], [5], or cutaneous touch [6]–[8]) are reenacted through streams of artificial input to the nervous system, typically using electrical stimulation of nerve fibers in the periphery [9] or neurons in the central nervous system [10]. Restored cutaneous touch, in particular, would be of great benefit for the users of upper-limb prostheses, who place a high priority on the ability to perform functions without the necessity to constantly engage visual attention [11]. This could be achieved through the addition of artificial somatosensory channels to the prosthetic device [1].
RESEARCH
December 2019
Takashi Tokuda1, Makito Haruta2, Kiyotaka Sasagawa2, and Jun Ohta2
1: Institute of Innovative Research, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan
2: Graduate School of Science and Technology, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Japan
Corresponding author: Takashi Tokuda
E-mail: tokuda@ee.e.titecha.ac.jp
Since the rise of optogenetics, various types of optical stimulators have been proposed and realized. These include wired and wireless, single-site and multi-site, and with and without integration of other measurement / stimulation modalities. Naturally there is a trend to pursue very-small, light-weight devices that can be implanted or directly attached to animals. Such devices enable freely moving optogenetic experiments. Freely moving situations are preferred especially in behavioral experiments. Some research groups have been actively developing small, wireless, optogenetic stimulators [1-4]. Considering the importance of small size and lightness, most of the devices are developed with battery-less designs, meaning that power is wirelessly transferred during the operation. Realistic power transfer schemes for such devices are limited to either electromagnetic (RF-) or photovoltaic (PV-) powering.
