Event Date
Abstract
Neural interface technologies stand to revolutionize disease care for patients with neurological conditions and in the future, the human experience. Today, there are two main classes of neural interface technologies: (1) brain-machine interfaces that record neural activity to control external devices and (2) neuromodulation technologies that provide stimulation to treat interactable neurological conditions. Unifying recording and stimulation technologies with on-device machine learning in a small form factor will enable, intelligent, autonomous devices that can monitor, learn, diagnose, and treat disease. In this talk I will present advances in implantable neural interface technologies that enable bidirectional and closed-loop interactions with the brain and peripheral nervous system. These devices are based on integrated circuit and microsystems technologies that combine extreme miniaturization with advanced performance. I will start by presenting neuromodulation technology that combines high channel count neural recording with neurostimulation in a truly closed-loop manner. This technology will enable automated programming and adaptive, patient-specific therapies that will result in improved outcomes and reduced side effects. I will then present our work in the extreme miniaturization of recording and stimulating interfaces for the peripheral nervous system, and a new class of optical neural interfaces that will enable interactions thousands of neurons with single-cell precision.
Bio
Rikky Muller, PhD is an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS) at the University of California, Berkeley where she holds the S. Shankar Sastry Professorship in Emerging Technologies, and is a Co-director of the Berkeley Wireless Research Center (BWRC). She received her BS and MS degrees from MIT and her PhD from UC Berkeley all in EECS, and was a McKenzie Fellow and Lecturer of EE at the University of Melbourne in Australia. She is the Co-founder of MZR Neurotech and Cortera Neurotechnologies, a medical device company that was acquired in 2019. Prior to her PhD she was an integrated circuit designer at Analog Devices. Dr. Muller was named one of MIT Technology Review's top 35 global innovators under the age of 35 (TR35), and one of MedTech Boston's top 40 healthcare innovators Under 40. She is the recipient of numerous fellowships and awards, including the IEEE SSCS New Frontier Award, the McKnight Technological Innovations in Neuroscience Award, National Academy of Engineering Gilbreth Lectureship, the Chan-Zuckerberg Biohub Investigatorship, the Keysight Early Career Professorship, the Hellman Fellowship, the Bakar Fellowship, the Bakar Prize, the NSF CAREER Award, and served a Distinguished Lecturer of the Solid-State Circuits Society.