Michel M. Maharbiz (Advisor)

Glial scarring and passivization of long-term implanted neural probes is one bottleneck in brain- machine interface technology. However, ultraflexible probes with similar mechanical properties as tissue have been shown to minimize scarring and other biological responses. We propose a flexible, microscale neural probe that can be actuated using an expanding hydrogel. This device is designed to be able to record neural signals up to hundreds of microns away from the insertion site. This design can allow for high-density, accurate neural recordings for a wide variety of clinical applications...

Brain-machine interfaces provide an artificial conduit to send information to and from the brain, and modulate activity in the brain. These systems have shown great promise in clinical, scientific, and human-computer interaction contexts, but the low reward/risk ratio of today’s invasive neural interfaces has limited their use to an extremely niche clinical patient population. It has been shown that ultrasonic backscatter communication can enable the sensing and stimulation of neural activity with extremely small wireless implants, which can both improve performance and reduce risk....

The proliferation of Internet-of-Things (IoT) systems and human body sensors is rapidly transforming the way we interact with our surroundings. As these devices increase in number and longevity, there grows a critical need to find sustainable and convenient power sources. Shrinking consumer electronics have generated a demand for battery-less power sources forsome applications. Significant interest in studying energy harvesting techniques exists as a solution to power these devices. In particular for interactive...