Dr. Maysam Chamanzar
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, UC Berkeley
BSAC Postdoctoral Researcher
March 31, 2015 | 12:30 to 01:30 | 540 Cory Hall
Host: Kris Pister
It is an exciting time to be at the nexus of engineering and neuroscience! The development of new neurotechnologies will revolutionize our understanding of the brain function to mitigate nervous system disorders and also advance brain-machine interfaces (BMIs).
This seminar will discuss high-density hybrid parylene-silicon implantable probes for high-resolution neural recording in multiple cortical areas. Benefiting from the best of both silicon and polymer material properties, these probes have >10x higher density and are 10x more compliant than the state of the art, thus exerting minimal tissue damage and tethering forces, while still providing full-volume cortical sampling. A novel parylene-in-parylene (PiP) photonics platform will also be introduced that can be monolithically integrated with our probes for high-resolution optogenetic stimulation.
The seminar will also discuss a complementary radical approach to guide and steer light deep into the brain for targeted optogenetic stimulation. In this approach, patterns of ultrasonic waves modify the refractive properties of the brain tissue, effectively guiding and steering light without physically implanting a waveguide or light source. To reach brain structures >2 mm deep, we have developed tetherless upconverting nanocrystal light bulbs that absorb guided near-infrared light and emit visible light to locally stimulate opsins.
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