-Tuesday May 21, 2012, Steinman Lecture Hall -

Please join us for a very special event at the Grove School of Engineering on Tuesday, May 21, 2013 – the 3^rd Annual Kaylie Prize for Entrepreneurship at The City College of New York.   In topics ranging from using online tools to change how we wait in lines, changing paper recycling with disappearing ink, to wall-climbing robots in the subway, to innovations in medical technology, the Kaylie semi-finalist teams will compete in fast-paced presentations and physical demonstrations – culminating in the selection of a winner.

The Kaylie Prize for Entrepreneurship was established in 2010 through an endowment by alumnus Harvey Kaylie.  Mr. Kaylie is president and founder of Mini-Circuits, a Brooklyn-based RF and microwave electronic components design, manufacture, and distribution company.  The Kaylie Prize for Entrepreneurship has developed into one of the most innovative and exciting entrepreneurship mechanisms in New York City. It has facilitated rapid acceleration of commercialization of student-generated ideas. The prize is directed by Prof. Marom Bikson.

This event is an opportunity to experience an intensive one-day competition and join a network of NYC area business and engineering leaders.

 So please join us in the Steinman Lecture Hall:

Cellular Effects of Acute Direct Current Stimulation: Somatic and Synaptic Terminal Effects.

Rahman A, Reato D, Arlotti M, Gasca F, Datta A, Parra LC, Bikson M.

J Physiol. 2013

Download paper: Rahman_Bikson_jphysiol_tDCSmechanisms

Pubmed link 

The Department of Biomedical Engineering at the City College of new York celebrates four outstanding graduate researchers from the Neural Engineering group.

Davide Reato – Wallace H Coulter Outstanding Biomedical Engineering Graduate Student Award

Marta Isabel Vanegas-Arroyave – Outstanding Research Project by a Master’s Candidate

John Ettikkalayil – Outstanding Academic Performance by a Master’s Candidate

Maged Elwassif – Graduate Academic Excellence

Congratulations to all!

Neuroimage

Physiological and modeling evidence for focal transcranial electrical brain stimulation in humans: A basis for high-definition tDCS

Edwards_Bikson_2013_physiological+modeling evidence for 4×1 humans_edwards_2013

AND

J. Neural Eng. 10 (2013) 036018 (10pp) doi:10.1088/1741-2560/10/3/036018
Validation of finite element model
of transcranial electrical stimulation
using scalp potentials: implications
for clinical dose

Bikson_Datta_validation model scalp potentials_2013

Just a casual video of a day in CCNY Neural Engineering.

Dr. Bikson spoke at the Magstim Neuroenhancement Conference on May 4th 2013.

Slides (PDF) Magstim2013_Bikson_Marom

and some pictures

We have three openings tenure-track faculty positions in “Translational Neuroscience” here at CCNY encompassing clinical, basic, and computational neuroscience. The home department for each position is fairly flexible, though we envision one hire in Biomedical Engineering, one in Psychology and one in the Medical School. Joint appointments with Math, Biology, etc. are also possible. The search will consider all ranks from Assistant to Full professor.

Please also distribute this announcement to students or collaborators who may be interested.

https://home.cunyfirst.cuny.edu/psp/cnyepprd/GUEST/HRMS/c/HRS_HRAM.HRS_CE.GBL?Page=HRS_CE_JOB_DTL&Action=A&JobOpeningId=8049&Site

PRISM Lecture/Neuroscience joint talk:

“The tongue as visual surrogate: experiences with sensory substitution for blindness”

AMY C. NAU, OD, FAAO

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Tuesday April 30, 2013, Time: 12:35 – 1:45 PM  Location: NAC 7/236 

Abstract: Sensory substitution is a newer concept for restoring a sense of the environment to the completely blind.  How to test performance for states of ultra low vision in the context of artificial vision, particularly those mediated through non-visual pathways is a new area of research.  This lecture will provide an overview of experiences using the BrainPort and some method to conduct objective and quantifiable assessments of behavioral performances.  In addition, preliminary results of neuroimaging studies using diffusion tensor MR imaging (DTI) and functional positron emission tomography (PET) will be shown to suggest that the visual brain becomes less organized as a function of blindness duration.

Biography: Dr. Nau is the Director of optometric and low vision services for the UPMC Eye Center, and the founder of the Sensory Substitution Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh. She graduated from the New England College of Optometry and completed a residency in ocular disease at the VAMC in Boston. She practiced at the Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Boston for five years and has been at the University of Pittsburgh since 2003.  Clinically, she specializes in medical contact lenses for ocular surface and corneal disease, including scleral lenses and contacts for artificial corneas. Her research interests primarily center on artificial vision technologies for the blind, including sensory substitution. Her laboratory has conducted the largest human studies to date of the BrainPort Vision Device, which uses the tongue as a means to convey visual information to the brain.

UPDATE.  All three candidates passed the thesis defenses!  We are very proud of outstanding projects and presentations.

Showin in picture (left to right):

Prof. Simon Kelly, Prof. Lucas Parra, Marta Isabel Vanegas Arroyave (soon MS), Linford Leitch (soon MS), Dennis Truong (soon MS), Prof. Marom Bikson.

 Friday, April 26^th 2013

10:30 AM  “A novel visual stimulation paradigm: exploiting individual primary visual cortex geometry to boost steady state visual evoked potentials (SSVEP).” MS Candidate MARTA ISABEL VANEGAS ARROYAVE.  Advisor: Prof. Simon Kelly. Location: Steinman BME 5^th Floor conference room

12:00 PM “Finite Element Study of transcranial Direct Current Stimulation: customization of models and montages.” MS candidate DENNNIS Q. TRUONG. Advisor: Prof. Marom Bikson, Location: Steinman Room 2M13 (floor 2M)

1:30 PM  “Design, Product Development, and Risk Assessment of Tin (Sn) ring electrodes as a substitute to Silver-Silver Chloride (Ag/AgCl) ring electrodes for High Definition – transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (HD-tDCS).” MS Candidate LINFORD LEITCH, Location: Steinman Room 2M13 (floor 2M)

3:00 PM  Picture time.  Please meet right in front of Steinman Hall and please be prompt, as we will take pictures right away (if it rains meet in Neural Engineering).  Because we have not updated our picture in years, current and PAST lab members should come.  Please spread the word to everyone (since not everyone might be on the mailing lists).   All students, volunteers, lab affiliates should come.

Prof. Marom Bikson will give a lecture “Frontiers in Neuromodulation Technologies”

at the Department of Psychology Neuroscience Center Open House and 8th Annual Psychology Research Day at the University of New Mexico

April 19, 2013

PDF of agenda and details: PCNC Open House invitation & agenda 4-2-13-2

NEW: PDF of complete presentation Frontiers_Bikson_Marom_UNM_2013_A

On YouTube: two new seminars (sorry low quality but good content) by Prof. Marom Bikson in Germany 2013.

• March 13: Symposium at the the 10th Göttingen Meeting of the German Neuroscience Society on Non-invasive brain stimulation: mechanisms, effects and opportunities  

Video here 

Full slides DoseBikson2013

• March 19: 5th International Conference on Non-invasive Brain Stimulation 2013. Prof. Bikson to chair the modeling workshop and also lecture on “Using computational models in tDCS research and clinical trials”

Video here

Fully slides UsingModelsBikson_2013_Germany

New York City tDCS workshop on April 1, co-directed by Dr. Marom Bikson, hosted at Burke Rehabilitation Hospital by Soterix Medical Inc.

We will be there!  The workshop is expected to sell out so reserve a spot ASAP.

Talk by Dr. Marom Bikson, Dr. Felipe Fregni, and Dr. Dylan Awards,

Hands-on workshop on tDCS and HD-tDCS (!) plus demonstration of HDexplore and HDtargets,

Our lab will be running an hands-on modeling tutorial during one of the break-out sessions.

More details at the Soterix Medical website here 

PubMed link and read the PRESS RELEASE at Soterix Medical.

J Pain. 2013 Feb 14. pii: S1526-5900(12)00967-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jpain.2012.12.007. [Epub ahead of print]

Focal Modulation of the Primary Motor Cortex in Fibromyalgia Using 4×1-Ring High-Definition Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (HD-tDCS): Immediate and Delayed Analgesic Effects of Cathodal and Anodal Stimulation.

Abstract: Fibromyalgia is a prevalent chronic pain syndrome characterized by altered pain and sensory processing in the central nervous system, which is often refractory to multiple therapeutic approaches. Given previous evidence supporting analgesic properties of noninvasive brain stimulation techniques in this condition, this study examined the effects of a novel, more focal method of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), using the 4×1-ring configuration of high-definition (HD)-tDCS, on overall perceived pain in fibromyalgia patients. In this patient- and assessor-blind, sham-controlled, crossover trial, 18 patients were randomized to undergo single 20-minute sessions of anodal, cathodal, and sham HD-tDCS at 2.0 mA in a counterbalanced fashion. The center electrode was positioned over the left primary motor cortex. Pain scales and sensory testing were assessed before and after each intervention. A finite element method brain model was generated to predict electric field distribution. We found that both active stimulation conditions led to significant reduction in overall perceived pain as compared to sham. This effect occurred immediately after cathodal HD-tDCS and was evident for both anodal and cathodal HD-tDCS 30 minutes after stimulation. Furthermore, active anodal stimulation induced a significant bilateral increase in mechanical detection thresholds. These interventions proved well tolerated in our patient population. PERSPECTIVE: 4×1-ring HD-tDCS, a novel noninvasive brain stimulation technique capable of more focal and targeted stimulation, provides significant reduction in overall perceived pain in fibromyalgia patients as compared to sham stimulation, irrespective of current polarity. This technique may have other applications in research and clinical settings, which should be further explored.

pubmed link

Br J Sports Med. 2013 Feb 27. [Epub ahead of print]

Brain stimulation modulates the autonomic nervous system, rating of perceived exertion and performance during maximal exercise.

Prof. Marom Bikson to give lectures in Germany March 13, March 19

March 13: Symposium at the the 10th Göttingen Meeting of the German Neuroscience Society on Non-invasive brain stimulation: mechanisms, effects and opportunities  

Complete slides: DoseBikson2013  Complete references listed available HERE

German Neuroscience Society: conference link 

March 19: 5th International Conference on Non-invasive Brain Stimulation 2013. Prof. Bikson to chair the modeling workshop and also lecture on “Using computational models in tDCS research and clinical trials”

Complete slides: UsingModelsBikson_2013_Germany

conference link 

The Neural Engineering Group at The City College of New York analyzes nervous system function at multiple scales spanning sub-cellular, single cell, tissue, animal, to human cognitive levels.  Similarly, our translational research and development program integrates experimental testing, medical device development, and clinical trials – with the over-arching goal of improving human health through engineering innovation.

Prof. Marom Bikson at Magstim 2013 Summer Conference

Oxford, UK May 4-5 2013

Prof. Bikson to join outstanding clinical researchers from around to world to speak on “Individualized and targeted Neuromodulation with High-Definition tDCS“.

Flier

New book chapter (Cellular and Network Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation: Insights from Animal Models and Brain Slice) in Transcranial Brain Stimulation by Professor Marom Bikson, Davide Reato, and Asif Rahman provides insights into the mechanisms of transcranial brain stimulation from the cellular effects of electrical stimulation in animal models and brain slices.

Invented at CCNY Neural Engineering: PR NewsWire press release on High-Definition tDCS (HD-tDCS) in Times Square.

SMI Device Link here

Thesis Title:

“Bioheat Transfer Model and Temperature Control at DBS Electrodes: Experimentally Validated FEM of DBS lead Architecture”

Neural Systems Lab of the Neural Engineering Group website launched!

Prof. Marom Bikson to give lectures in Israel (updated Google+ link)

– January 7, 2 PM-3 PM SEMINAR followed by WORKSHOP on tDCS and HD-tDCS

“Transcranial direct current stimulation: Devices, therapies and clinical trials”

The Leslie and Susan Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center at Bar-Ilan University, Israel

Directions and details here

– Jan 13, 2 PM

“High-Definition transcranial Direct Current Stimulation: Non-invasive and targeted neuromodulation.”

Abstract: High-Definition transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (HD-tDCS) was developed by Prof. Marom Bikson and colleagues at The City College of New York in 2006.  HD-tDCS allows for delivery of low-intensity electrical current to targeted brain regions, is low-cost, portable, and well-tolerated.  HD-tDCS uses arrays of scalp electrodes, energized according to subject specific algorithms, to deliver current in an optimized and safe manner. HD-tDCS is under clinical trial for the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders (including neuropathic pain) for stroke rehabilitation (including motor and speech) and as a neuromodulation tool for cognitive neuroscience (including accelerated learning). The technology and applications of HD-tDCS are reviewed.

Department of Biomedical Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel University Link

Kaylie Entrepreneurship Prize and Zahn Center Entrepreneurshipfor Superusers

Kaylie Prize

BME Students are especially encouraged to apply for the 2012-2012 Kaylie Prize competitions.  The new Kaylie Prize direction, BME Professor Marom Bikson is available to discuss potential ideas and resources.    Projects with faculty or graduate student involvement are welcome.  The letter of intent deadline has been extended but students are encouraged to submit by 12/15/2012.  This is a very simple document to prepare but students are encouraged to consult with Dr. Bikson on project suitability.

The Kaylie Prize in Entrepreneurship embraces the success of our alumni and catalyzes the ambitions of current CCNY students toward their own enterprises. The competition will leverage the newly formed Entrepreneurship Program and InnoLab to provide the brightest CCNY students with unprecedented freedom and agency towards the realization of astounding goals.  http://entrepreneurship.ccny.cuny.edu/kaylieprize

Students may apply both for the Katyie Prize and as Zahn super-users.

Dr. Marom Bikson bikson@ccny.cuny.edu Steinman T-403B

Zahn Center “SuperUsers”

The newly established Zahn Center for Entrepreneurship has the mission to foster entrepreneurial activities and start-ups at the Grove School of Engineering. It will do so by providing resources for prototype development, workshops to devise business plans and access to a network of outside experts and investors. Haytham Elhawary is the Director of the center.

The center is looking for 5-6 motivated and talented students who want to spend January working on a diversity of technical projects and training on the machine infrastructure, to eventually become “SuperUsers” of the center. Projects include:

• Training on how to use the current machines in the center: 50W laser cutter, Makerbot 3D Printer, Objet 3D Printer and others. They will ensure the machines work properly and will train others to use them.
• Design, development and installation of the suite of tools for printed circuit board design and prototyping.
• Development of an “Internet of Things” platform, enabling wireless data transmission from sensors to the cloud and to a user interface on both mobile devices and PCs.
• Design and development of branding materials for the center, such as a logo, website, wiki with resources and social media campaign.
• Equipping center with the necessary tools and equipment for prototyping devices and electronic circuits.

The students must be able to commit 20 hours a week for these projects. The students will have access to all the equipment of the center during the entire month of January and, if the students complete their projects in a satisfactory manner, they will have priority use of the center for their own projects during the winter and spring semesters.

Anyone from an undergraduate, masters or PhD program in Engineering is welcome to apply. Please send your resume to helhawary@ccny.cuny.edu and if interested come to an Information session on January 8^th at 12pm at the Zahn Center (located in the basement of the Engineering building in room B20). Selected students will start on January 10^th.

Count me in, Don Draper!

Prof. Lucas Parra and Dr. Jacek Dmochowski have been investigating the neural activity evoked by naturalistic stimuli (for example, movies).  In the next phase of this research, we are conducting a study that will measure the audience response elicited by television commercials.  The experiment is very short (<1 hour), and consists of watching a series of brief and mostly-well-done advertisements.

See also “The Neuroscence of the Walking Dead” 

Oct 30, 2012 - San Francisco Chronicle: Marom Bikson and Electrical Stimulation

Electric brain stimulation gains ground

read it here

A new paper came out in collaboration with the italian group of Giorgio Carmignoto:

Reato D, Cammarota M, Parra LC, Carmignoto G., “Computational model of neuron-astrocyte interactions during focal seizure generation”, Front Comput Neurosci. 2012;6:81.

You can find the pdf here.

Prof. Bikson to speak at Harvard Medical School Neurorehabilitation Course

Clinical, Assessments and Intervention Updates in Neurorehabilitation

The purpose of this course is to introduce and update participants to the rapid advances occurring in the field of neurorehabilitation. Advances in investigating brain function (such as neuroimaging, quantitative EEG and transcranial magnetic stimulation) have revealed that functional improvements following rehabilitative training significantly alters the structural and functional organization of the brain. Uncovering the physiological basis of these changes, as well as how to enhance plasticity with adjunctive therapies such as motor training, virtual reality, robotics, and noninvasive brain stimulation are critical to further develop advanced therapeutic strategies and improve recovery of function.

Date: 11/9/2012 – 11/10/2012, Boston

Details

Neuromodulatory Rehabilitation: Stroke Motor Recovery and Beyond

Prof. Marom Bikson speaks at the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicince Conference 2012.

Friday, Oct 12.

Full program and details.

Prof. Marom Bikson joins editorial board of journal Brain Stimulation

Limited Total Energy tDCS (LTE-tDCS) paper published

Methods for extra-low voltage transcranial direct current stimulation: Current and time dependent impedance decreases

Christoph Hahn, Justin Rice, Shiraz Macuff, Preet Minhas, Asif Rahman, Marom Bikson

In CLINICAL NEUROPHYSIOLOGY journal link

Highlights

► Transcranial direct current stimulation is accompanied by a characteristic drop in skin impedance which significantly reduces compliance voltage.

► Skin impedance changes have been investigated experimentally and approximated by a 4th order linear model.

► Reduced-voltage and Limited Total Energy tDCS are viable approaches towards more protective and robust brain stimulation protocols.

Soterix Medical 1×1 LTE enabled stimulator is here.

The Zahn Center is an entrepreneurship center that will serve as a business incubator for aspiring student and faculty entrepreneurs and a resource for local businesses. The facility is supported by a $1 million gift from the Moxie Foundation, the charity of CCNY alumnus Irwin Zahn, ’48, and a $440,000 grant from the Office of Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. The Zahn Center will provide a functional, dedicated incubator space, equipment, financial resources, incentives, and expert engineering and business guidance for aspiring student entrepreneurs. The support of the Manhattan Borough President recognizes the important role that the Grove School plays in promoting job creation in the local economy and beyond.

We are restarting our weekly journal club. The scheduled days can be found in the pdf through the red link on the right side of this page.

Our next generation deep brain models are ready….. link

NE Seminar: Mobile telephones and risk for cancer

A tour through the corridors of epidemiological data about mobile phone use and risk for brain tumors

Aug 17th 10 AM.  BME 5th Floor Conference Room, Steinman Hall

Professor Christoffer Johansen  (homepage)

Head, Unit of Survivorship, Danish Cancer Society, Research Center

New Review: Computational Models of tDCS

Bikson M, Rahman A, Datta A. Computational Models of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation. Clinical EEG and Neuroscience . 2012; 43(3) 176-183  PDF

Abstract:  During tDCS, controllable dose parameters are electrode number (typically one anode and one cathode), position, size, shape, and applied electric current.  Because different electrode montages result in distinct brain current flow patterns across the brain, tDCS dose parameters can be adjusted, in an application specific manner, to target or avoid specific brain regions. Though tDCS electrode montage often follows basic rules-of-thumb (increased/decreased excitability “under” the anode/cathode electrode), computational forward models of brain current flow provide more accurate insight into detailed current flow patterns and in some cases, can even challenge simplified electrode-placement assumptions. With the increased recognized value of computational forward models in informing tDCS montage design and interpretation of results, there have been recent advances in modeling tools and a greater proliferation of publications.  In addition, the importance of customizing tDCS for potentially vulnerable populations (e.g. skull defects, brain damage/stroke, and extremes of age) can be considered.   Finally, computational models can be used to design new electrode montages, for e.g. to improve spatial targeting such as High-Definition tDCS.  Pending further validation and dissemination of modeling tools, computational forward models of neuromodulation will become standard tools to guide the optimization of clinical trials and electrotherapy.

Developing technology to control the heating at implantable medical devices including neuroprosthetic devices

Lean more about research program: Project Page

Read the article: PDF

Temperature control at DBS electrodes using a heat sink: experimentally validated FEM model of DBS lead architecture.

Abstract

There is a growing interest in the use of deep brain stimulation (DBS) for the treatment of medically refractory movement disorders and other neurological and psychiatric conditions. The extent of temperature increases around DBS electrodes during normal operation (joule heating and increased metabolic activity) or coupling with an external source (e.g. magnetic resonance imaging) remains poorly understood and methods to mitigate temperature increases are being actively investigated. We developed a heat transfer finite element method (FEM) simulation of DBS incorporating the realistic architecture of Medtronic 3389 leads. The temperature changes were analyzed considering different electrode configurations, stimulation protocols and tissue properties. The heat-transfer model results were then validated using micro-thermocouple measurements during DBS lead stimulation in a saline bath. FEM results indicate that lead design (materials and geometry) may have a central role in controlling temperature rise by conducting heat. We show how modifying lead design can effectively control temperature increases. The robustness of this heat-sink approach over complimentary heat-mitigation technologies follows from several features: (1) it is insensitive to the mechanisms of heating (e.g. nature of magnetic coupling); (2) it does not interfere with device efficacy; and (3) can be practically implemented in a broad range of implanted devices without modifying the normal device operations or the implant procedure

 

 

Neural Engineering making NEWS!

Reuters: “New research could help advertisers read your mind”

July 10 – Researchers in New York have shown that measuring human brain waves could help advertisers develop more effective campaigns. The team monitored brain wave activity in volunteers to determine what types of film scenes elicited universal responses. They say their data shows that the method could be far more effective than conventional market research techniques. Sharon Reich has more.

CCNY PRESS RELEASE

Prof. Marom Bikson instructs at Harvard Medical School tDCS course

June 30, 2012

“Introduction to tDCS in Neuropsychiatric Research”
CNBS offers a 1-day course exploring the mechanisms behind and utilization of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) three times per year.
tDCS is a technique of noninvasive brain stimulation established nearly 75 years ago. Today, tDCS is seeing a resurgence in both the clinical and academic research fields. Through lectures and hands-on practice, this course will introduce students to the theoretical aspects of tDCS and help develop proper skills for practical application. This course is limited to 20 participants per session.

Flier

Prof. Marom Bikson to speak at the

IV International Symposium on Neuromodulation.

Sept 17-19, 2012 Sao Paulo, Brazil

Our papers are accepted for presentation at the 34th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC’12) to be held in Hilton Bayfront Hotel in San Diego, California, USA on August 28 – September 1, 2012.  See you there!

Marom Bikson, Greg Kronberg: Electrode assembly design for transcranial Direct Current Stimulation: A FEM modeling study

Dennis Q. Truong, Greta Magerowski, Alvaro Pascual-Leone, Miguel Alonso-Alonso, Marom Bikson: Finite Element Study of Skin and Fat Delineation in an Obese Subject for Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation

Dennis Q. Truong, Abhishek Datta, Jiansong Xu, Felipe Fregni, Marom Bikson: Optimization of Prefrontal Cortex transcranial Direct Current Stimulation via a Combined High Definition and Conventional Electrode Montage: A FEM modeling studying

Preet Minhas, Marom Bikson, Adam Woods, Alyssa Rosen, Sudha Kessler: Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Pediatric Brain: A computational modeling study

Mattia Arlotti, Asif Rahman, Preet Minhas, Marom Bikson: Axon terminal polarization induced by weak uniform DC electric fields: a modeling study

Jacek Dmochowski, Marom Bikson, Abhishek Datta, Jessica Richardson, Julius Fridriksson, Lucas Parra: On the Role of Electric Field Orientation in Optimal Design of Transcranial Electrical Stimulation (lecture)

Egas Caparelli-Daquer, Trelawny J. Zimmermann, Eric Mooshagian, Lucas Parra, Justin Rice, Abhishek Datta, Marom Bikson, Eric A Wassermann: Pilot Study on Effects of 4×1 High-Definition tDCS on Motor Cortex Excitability (lecture)

Yu Huang, Yuzhuo Su, Christopher Rorden, Jacek Dmochowski, Abhishek Datta, Lucas Parra: An Automated Method for High-Definition Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Modeling (lecture)

New Paper:

“Correlated components of ongoing EEG point to emotionally laden attention – a possible marker of engagement?” link

Jacek P. Dmochowski, Paul Sajda, Joao Dias and Lucas C. Parra

Abstract: Recent evidence from functional magnetic resonance imaging suggests that cortical hemodynamic responses coincide in different subjects experiencing a common naturalistic stimulus. Here we utilize neural responses in the electroencephalogram (EEG) evoked by multiple presentations of short film clips to index brain states marked by high levels of correlation within and across subjects. We formulate a novel signal decomposition method which extracts maximally correlated signal components from multiple EEG records. The resulting components capture correlations down to a one-second time resolution, thus revealing that peak correlations of neural activity across viewings can occur in remarkable correspondence with arousing moments of the film. Moreover, a significant reduction in neural correlation occurs upon a second viewing of the film or when the narrative is disrupted by presenting its scenes scrambled in time. We also probe oscillatory brain activity during periods of heightened correlation, and observe during such times a significant increase in the theta band for a frontal component and reductions in the alpha and beta frequency bands for parietal and occipital components. Low-resolution EEG tomography of these components suggests that the correlated neural activity is consistent with sources in the cingulate and orbitofrontal cortices. Put together, these results suggest that the observed synchrony reflects attention- and emotion-modulated cortical processing which may be decoded with high temporal resolution by extracting maximally correlated components of neural activity

Our own Johnson Ho has been selected as the City Colege of New York, Grove Schoole of Engineering 2011-2012 Valedictorian.  Johnson worked on High-Definition tDCS electrodes and will go on to a MD/PhD.

Official Annoucment:

Dean Joseph Barba and the Grove School of Engineering congratulate

Mr. Johnson Shiuan-Jiun Ho

2012 GSOE Valedictorian!!!!

The faculty, staff and students of the Grove School of Engineering congratulate Mr. Johnson Ho, who will receive his B.E. in Biomedical Engineering at this year’s CCNY commencement ceremony on June 1, 2012. This is the highest honor the Grove School awards to a graduating senior.

In addition to an exceptional academic record and enrollment in the Macaulay Honors College, Johnson has pursued undergraduate research in the laboratory of BME Professor Marom Bikson. Johnson’s achievements include the design of a new electrode technology for non-invasive electrotherapy, which has been published and patented, and is in investigational use at major clinical centers – an achievement which Professor Bikson terms “simply exceptional.”

Johnson has received numerous awards and recognitions, including a Goldwater Scholarship in 2011. This national award recognizes undergraduate students who demonstrate academic excellence and outstanding potential for future scientific research. At that time, CCNY President Lisa S. Coico lauded Johnson as “a brilliant, hard-working student.”

Johnson has spent recent summers modeling heart mechanics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and developing questionnaires to assess the effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioral therapy treatment plan on depressed patients at the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center in Flushing, New York.   He is also a certified EMT and crew chief of the Volunteer Emergency Squad on campus, an avid varsity volleyball and track athlete, and founder of an Athletes in Action chapter on campus that helps develop leadership skills.

Johnson plans to pursue an MD/PhD degree in Neuroscience.

News Release

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Chronic migraine sufferers saw significant pain relief after four weeks of electrical brain stimulation in the part of the brain responsible for voluntary movement, the motor cortex, according to a new study.

Download the movie here (don’t forget to credit the lab source)

http://bme.ccny.cuny.edu/faculty/mbikson/projects/tdcs-migraine.mov

Project: Letting surgeon’s learn (and make mistakes) on simulators before patients.

Though the National Institute of Health U54 program, the CCNY-MSKCC partnership program funds our program on Development and Validation of Thoracic Endoscopic Surgery Simulators to Conduct a Prospective Randomized Crossover Study of Simulators Vs. Didactics for Teaching and Assessing Medical Students and Surgical Trainees Technical Skills

PIs Marom Bikson (CCNY) and Prasad Adusumilli (MSKCC)

“Rapid medical device prototyping: From idea to patient”

Marom Bikson, Ph.D. speaks at The Cooper Union, Biomedical Engineering Seminars  PDF

Abstract:  Can an idea become a medical treatment in 6 months? What does it take to make an innovation a cure? Prof. Marom Bikson has developed and designed medical devices in clinical trial in over 20 international medical centers.  His medical device groups used rapid prototyping and clinical input driven design, while working under IRB and FDA regulations, to accelerate the validation of new medical device technologies.  This work involves engineers at all levels including graduate and undergraduate students.  Prof. Bikson will describe the process of medical device design under cost and time constraints, highlighting several recent examples of devices in ongoing clinical trials.

Prof. Bikson ”tDCS Dose and Mechanism” Lecture at Harvard Medical School tDCS Course March 17th, 2012

Watch the video (low resolution) and download the slides (PDF).

Prof. Bikson speaks at the College of Staten Island CUNY Neuroscience Center

March 12th, 2800 Victory Boulevard, Staten Island, NY 10314

“Modulating brain function with transcranial Direct Current Stimulation: Clinical promise and next generation technology.”

The Wireless Pulse Oximeter for real-time intraoperative use has been accepted to present at the University Research and Entrepreneurship Symposium 2012. The WiPOX one of 30 breakthrough technologies developed at world-class research universities from across the country that will be presented to an audience of New England’s top venture capitalists and entrepreneurs.  Congrats WiPOX engineerng team!
URES 2012 will be held on Wednesday, April 18th at the Microsoft NERD Center in Cambridge, MA.

We partner with NYU Stern Business School to analyze the commerical market for non-invasive neuromodulation.

Special Lecture: “A Brief History of Fisher Wallace” makes of Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulaiton (and based in New York City).

Feb 14th, 3:30-4:00 PM, BME 5th Floor Conference Room (venue may change)

Chip Fisher, President, Fisher Wallace Laboratories

Our latest paper with Abhishek Datta and Marom Bikson is accepted in the journal Headache

“tDCS-induced analgesia and electrical fields in pain-related neural networks in chronic migraine”

We collaborated with clinical teams at Harvard Medical School (Felipe Fregni) and University of Michigan (Alexadre DaSilva) and devloped the most advanced models of tDCS induced current flow in deep brain structures.  Think: “deep tDCS”.  Indeed, tDCS goes “deeper” than any TMS technology designed to go deep (e.g. H-coill but Brainsway). This work opens a new door to for tDCS.

Full size image

The new Practical Medical Device Design Course Website is here.

You can always find the updated calendar of our weekly Journal Club on the top-right corner of the News page (here the direct link).

We are on the cover of Journal of Pain (again!)

The Journal of Pain selects our state-of-the-art models of brain current flow for the Feb 2012 cover

This issue features our article

A Pilot Study of the Tolerability and Effects of High-Definition Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (HD-tDCS) on Pain Perception.

Borckardt JJ, Bikson M, Frohman H, Reeves ST, Datta A, Bansal V, Madan A, Barth K, George MS

This week (Friday 01/27/2012), for our second Neural Engineering Journal Club, Mattia will lead the discussion on this paper:

Shu Y, Hasenstaub A, Duque A, Yu Y, McCormick DA., Modulation of
intracortical synaptic potentials by presynaptic somatic membrane potential.,
Nature. 2006 Jun 8;441(7094):761-5.

We are starting next week a weekly journal club. The meetings will be
held every Friday at 10am in the conference room on 5th floor,
Steinman Hall. You can find the calendar on the right side of this page.
Next week (Friday 01/20/2012) Joao will lead the discussion on this paper:

Nieuwenhuis S, Forstmann BU, Wagenmakers EJ., Erroneous analyses of inter-
actions in neuroscience: a problem of significance., Nat Neurosci. 2011 Aug
26;14(9):1105-7.

2011 City College of New York, Department of Biomedical Engineering Holidal Party

Asif Rahman, Andy Huang, Justin Rice, Jacek Dmochowski, Joao Dias, Paul DeGuzman

NEURAL ENGINEERING HOLIDAY DINNER

Tuesday December 13th, 7pm
Havana Central at The West End
2911 Broadway New York, NY 10025
Cross Street: Between 113th and 114th Streets
(212) 662-8830

Prof. Marom Bikson speak at SUNY Downstate Medical on HD-tDCS  Dec 14, 2011 noon

“Deployable and targeted neuromodulation with High-Definition transcranial Direct Current Stimulation.”

“Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) over the last decade has emerged as a promising non-invasive therapy for producing lasting functional changes in CNS. It is low cost, uses weak currents, easy to use, and can be combined with either cognitive training or rehabilitative therapy. However, conventional approaches using two large-pads stimulate broad regions of the cortex with limited spatial precision. We developed a novel platform: High-Definition Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (HD-tDCS) which uses an array of multiple small scalp electrodes allowing focal and targeted neuromodulation. To determine optimal stimulation array configurations based on application specific constraints (surface/depth focality), a user targeting software was developed.  Specialized scalp electrodes/adapters and head-gear was engineered to allow painless delivery of current to targeted regions, under a wide range of deployed environments. Multicenter Phase -1 trials have established safety/ tolerability.  HD-tDCS leads to focal activation of the cortex similar to Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) but is better tolerated. Clinical trials for accelerated learning, chronic pain (fibromyalgia), migraine, and stroke rehabilitation are currently ongoing. HD-tDCS thus allows non-invasive, safe, individualized, targeted and thus more effective modulation of selected cortical and deep brain structures.”

Congrats Justin Rice winner:

ANNUAL European PhD Award

on Embedded, Networked or Distributed Control

The EECI PhD Award (1000 EUR) is given annually in recognition of the best PhD thesis in Europe in the field of Embedded, Networked or Distributed Control

Neural Engineering Faculty Citations via Google Scholar (~1000 citations in 2011)

Marom Bikson

Lucas Parra

Simon Kelly

This upcoming Monday Nov 28th at 6-7 PM in Steinman T-401 (BME Conference Room) there will be a special Neural Engineering group talk (combined with the Neural Engineering class)

Angel Peterchev, PhD

Assistant Professor; Director, Brain Stimulation Engineering Lab, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, Duke University

Dr. Peterchev will speak on “Introduction to Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation technology.”

First clinical study on High-Definition tDCS published in Journal of Pain

A Pilot Study of the Tolerability and Effects of High-Definition Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (HD-tDCS) on Pain Perception.

Abstract

Several brain stimulation technologies are beginning to evidence promise as pain treatments. However, traditional versions of 1 specific technique, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), stimulate broad regions of cortex with poor spatial precision. A new tDCS design, called high definition tDCS (HD-tDCS), allows for focal delivery of the charge to discrete regions of the cortex. We sought to preliminarily test the safety and tolerability of the HD-tDCS technique as well as to evaluate whether HD-tDCS over the motor cortex would decrease pain and sensory experience. Twenty-four healthy adult volunteers underwent quantitative sensory testing before and after 20 minutes of real (n = 13) or sham (n = 11) 2 mA HD-tDCS over the motor cortex. No adverse events occurred and no side effects were reported. Real HD-tDCS was associated with significantly decreased heat and cold sensory thresholds, decreased thermal wind-up pain, and a marginal analgesic effect for cold pain thresholds. No significant effects were observed for mechanical pain thresholds or heat pain thresholds. HD-tDCS appears well tolerated, and produced changes in underlying cortex that are associated with changes in pain perception. Future studies are warranted to investigate HD-tDCS in other applications, and to examine further its potential to affect pain perception. PERSPECTIVE: This article presents preliminary tolerability and efficacy data for a new focal brain stimulation technique called high definition transcranial direct current stimulation. This technique may have applications in the management of pain

Prof. Marom Bikson to speak at Harvard Medical School “Clinical, Assessments, and Intervention Updates in Neurorehabilitation” 

PDF Brochure and Registration Information

“TECHNOLOGY & NEUROREHABILITATION

The purpose of this course is to introduce and update participants to the rapid advances occurring in the !eld of neurorehabilitation. Advances in investigating brain function (such as neuroimaging, quantitative EEG and transcranial magnetic stimulation) have revealed that functional improvements following rehabilitative training signi!cantly alters the structural and functional organization of the brain. Uncovering the physiological basis of these changes as well as how to enhance plasticity with adjunctive therapies such as motor training, virtual reality, robotics, and noninvasive brain stimulation are critical to further develop advanced therapeutic strategies and improve recovery of function. Offered by: Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Dept of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.”

University of Pennsylvania

The Neuro-Cognitive Rehabilitation Research Network

initiates High-Definition tDCS studies.  Our Neural Engineering teams visits for on-site training and new modeling work..

In photo: Shiraz Macuff, Abhi Datta, Preet Minhas.

Prof, Marom Bikson in a discussion with the Manhattan Adult Attention Deficit Disorder Support Group

when:    Thursday  /  November 3, 2011  /  6:30pm to 9pm
6:15 — doors open
6:30 — announcements
6:45 — presentation + group discussion

topic:      FROM TECHNOLOGY TO TREATMENT: WHAT CAN WE DO TO EXPEDITE PROGRESS?

where:   West End Collegiate Church
245 West 77th Street
near West End Avenue

Prof.Bikson to present at the Photo-Electro-Magnetic Biostimulation of Performance and Protection meeting, at Tri-Serivce Research Laboratory, Fort Sam Houston on  “Deployable and targeted neuromodulation with High-Definition transcranial Direct Current Stimulation.” Nov 1-2, 2011

Transcranial Electric Stimulation Symposium

The Neural Engineering Group will present at a mini symposium that brings together researchers from City College of the City University of New York and Rutgers University, Newark to discuss recent findings in the field of transcranial electric stimulation.

Date: Monday, October 24th, 2011

Time: 1pm – 6pm

Room: Aidekman Seminar Room (first floor)
Rutgers University Aidekman Research Center
Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience
197 University Avenue Newark, NJ 07102

For more information, please contact Bart Krekelberg: bart@rutgers.edu, or 973 353 3602

Program Talks are 20 minutes, with ten minutes for discussion.

1:00-1:30 – Kohitij Kar – Retinal and cortical effects of transcranial electrical stimulation.

1:30-2:00 – David Reato – Oscillatory electrical stimulation modulates coherence and homeostatic downscaling of human slow wave activity

2:00-2:30 – Jacek Dmochowski – Optimized multi-electrode stimulation increases focality and intensity at target

— Coffee Break —

3:00-3:30 – Belen Lafon – Modulation of homeostatic plasticity with electric fields in rat hippocampal slices.

3:30-4:00 – Antal Berenyi – Perturbation of neuronal activity by transcranial electrical stimulation and optogenetic tools in animals

4:00-4:30 – Asif Rahman – Synaptic pathway and orientation specific modulation of neuronal excitability by weak direct current stimulation.

For abstracts, see the attached PDF.

Prof. Bikson to speak at:

III International Symposium on Neuromodulation

Sao Paulo, Brazil.  Oct 17-19, 2011.    More information

“Recent advances in the field of neuroscience has enabled a greater working knowledge of the brain and the pathological conditions in neuropsychiatric disorders. This knowledge, in turn, has been essential to the development of new modulation techniques focal brain as a non-invasive brain stimulation. With them you can induce cognitive improvements in conditions that are just now there was no satisfactory therapy. The methods are new neuromodulation therapies that are being rapidly developed and in the near future may have a major impact on experimental and clinical neuroscience”

Lucas Parra presents on Non-Invasive Neuromodulation at:

CRCNS 2011 PI Meeting: Princeton University

October 9-11

Lab meeting (10/03/2011): Asif Rahman will present “Synaptic Pathway-Dependent Effects of DC Electric-Fields In Rat Cortical Brain Slices” in the conference room, 5th floor at 2 PM.

Lab meeting (09/26/2011): Joao Dias will present “When Seeing and Looking do not Coincide!” in the conference room, 5th floor at 2pm.

In 1999, the City University of New York began training PhD candidates in biomedical engineering, three years before its engineering school, the Grove School at The City College of New York, even had a biomedical engineering department.  Fast-forward 12 years to 2011 and the program is now one of the nation’s best, according to National Research Council (NRC) rankings. (link)

As part of the Initiative for the Theoretical Sciences at the CUNY Graduate Center, there will be a series of one-day workshops on Brains, minds and models over the course of the 2011-12 academic year.

The goal of the series is to highlight current excitement surrounding theoretical approaches to problems in the neural and cognitive sciences.  The format will allow for considerable discussion, and I hope will provide an opportunity to get a feeling both for the broad research programs of different communities and for the technical details on which theories rise and fall.

The first workshop will be held on Tuesday 20 September:

Perception, memory and movement

    Short-term memory through compressed sensing

Surya Ganguli, University of California at San Francisco

    A short-term memory circuit, from single neurons to behavior

Mark Goldman, University of California at Davis

    Universal features of bistable percepts

Nava Rubin, New York University

    Optimal control of movement

Emo Todorov, University of Washington

Symposia will begin at 9:15 AM with bagels and coffee, and wrap up by 6:00 PM.  Lunch will be served.  All lectures will be in the Science Center, Room 4102 at the Graduate Center. Events are open to the scientific community, but we ask that you email its@gc.cuny.edu to register, so that we can provide the right amount of food and coffee (!).

Lab meeting (09/19/2011): Fernando Gasca will present “FEM Model of tCS in the Rat and Practical Issues in Multi-electrode tCS” in the conference room, 5th floor at 1:30pm.

Prof. Marom Bikson on “CUNY Faculty Entrepreneurship Workshop” roundtable

Baruch College,  55 Lexington Ave (corner of 24th street); Room 2-140 Field Center for Entrepreneurship.

“When seeing and looking do not coincide: scalp EEG correlates of found and missed targets during free-viewing.”
CCNY Neuro-seminar by Joao Dias
The City College of New York Neuro-seminar 9/14/2011 (Wednesday) in MR801 from noon until 1 pm.

 ”Rules of Engagement: Canonical Correlates of EEG across Multiple Movie Viewings”

Jacek Dmochowski

Tuesday, 09/13 at 12:35pm at the City College of New York

North Academic Center, room 7/236

Sponsored by: The Program in Cognitive Neuroscience

The City College & Graduate Center

The City University of New York

Monday Sept 12, 2011 Justin Rice – BME Conference Room – 1 PM

Neural Engineering Group Meeting

“What I did on my summer vacation”

CUNY Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC)

It’s the centerpiece of the University’s $1 billion investment in research facilities

video

Neural Engineering Group Lab Meeting

Wen Aug 31st 1-2 PM. BME Conference Room

Topic: Ephaptic coupling of cortical neurons.

Nat Neurosci. 2011 Feb;14(2):217-23. by Anastassiou CA, Perin R, Markram H, Koch C.

Abstract: The electrochemical processes that underlie neural function manifest themselves in ceaseless spatiotemporal field fluctuations. However, extracellular fields feed back onto the electric potential across the neuronal membrane via ephaptic coupling, independent of synapses. The extent to which such ephaptic coupling alters the functioning of neurons under physiological conditions remains unclear. To address this question, we stimulated and recorded from rat cortical pyramidal neurons in slices with a 12-electrode setup. We found that extracellular fields induced ephaptically mediated changes in the somatic membrane potential that were less than 0.5 mV under subthreshold conditions. Despite their small size, these fields could strongly entrain action potentials, particularly for slow (<8 Hz) fluctuations of the extracellular field. Finally, we simultaneously measured from up to four patched neurons located proximally to each other. Our findings indicate that endogenous brain activity can causally affect neural function through field effects under physiological conditions.

pubmed   paper

Our High-Definition tDCS featured in FUTURE TECHNOLOGY TRENDS

Blog Article Link

“This new tDCS device has been developed by scientists at the [City Collegeof New York] Neural Engineering group.  Instead of utilizing two electrodes like you would find with conventional tDCS, this is an entire cap that has many of them and is similar to an EEG.  More regions of the brain can thus be adjusted than would normally be possible.  It is possible to hook this device up to a computer and allow it to deliver controlled stimulaiton to almost any region located close to a person’s skull.”

NYC Tech Connect (an initiative of The New York City Investment Fund) invites you to the kickoff event of our new, monthly Speaker’s Series — Riverside Chats.  This series is designed for graduate students and post docs in the biosciences at all New York universities.    Each event will focus on some aspect of entrepreneurship, technology commercialization and funding sources.   Come to learn and network with NYC’s best and brightest entrepreneurial minds in the biosciences.

Host and partner: MSKCC’s Office of Technology Development (OTD).  All events will take place at the Rockefeller Board Room at 430 E. 67^th St. (between York and 1^st).

When:    Tuesday, August 9, 2011,  6-6:30 p.m. – program 6:30-7:30 p.m. – networking / cocktail hour

Topic:      The BioAccelerate NYC Prize – a $250,000 funding opportunity!

Speakers:    Jahan Ali, Senior Vice President, New York City Investment Fund and Dr. Sheila Nirenberg, Weill                           Cornell Medical College – 2011 Winner

RSVP required: events@nyctechconnect.com

(Save the Monthly Dates for upcoming events: September 13 / October 10 / November 8 / December 13)

Two CCNY Neural Engineering modeling papers published in leading journals- Innovation in tDCS optimization and tDCS in stroke.

Datta A, Baker J, Bikson M, Fridriksson F. Individualized model predicts brain current flow during transcranial direct-current stimulation treatment in responsive stroke patient. Brain Stimulation2011; 4: 169-74 read it

Dmochowski JP, Datta A, Bikson M, Su Y, Parra LC. Optimized multi-electrode stimulation increases focality and intensity at target. Journal of Neural Engineering . 2011; 8(4) read it

CCNY Neural Engineering Seminar: Christopher R. Butson, July 26th 9 AM. BME conference room.

Christopher R. Butson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Medical College of Wisconsin, Departments of Neurology & Neurosurgery

“thinking BIG” – Electrical brain stimulation technology features in CUNY Matters

HTML article here  July 11, 2011 | CUNY Matters, The University

“University researchers are now developing marketable products to help solve medical, energy and other global challenges. These profitable ideas will also benefit CUNY and the local economy.

What if. For science and technology researchers, these are the words that can start an idea on the road to invention — the connective tissue between something known and something imagined. In recent years, a particular brand of what-if has been percolating in labs around the University: the kind that can lead to something the world can really use…

What if electrical brain stimulation, a technique that has shown promise as a treatment for diseases like Parkinson’s, could be accomplished by simply placing electrodes on the scalp — rather than requiring a surgeon to drill a hole through the skull, as the technology now requires”

Follow Prof. Marom Bikson on Twitter for updates on Neuomodulation technology and Non-invasive electrotherapy devices. here

CUNY Entrepreneurship Workshop

THE CUNY CENTER FOR ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY AND THE FIELD CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP AT BARUCH COLLEGE – FALL 2011 FACULTY ENTREPRENEURSHIP WORKSHOP

The innovation economy of the 21st century will place a premium on rapid migration of research results from the university laboratory to the marketplace. For the past several years, CUNY’s Center for Advanced Technology (CAT) has worked with science and engineering faculty and research associates to help them understand the decisions they must make, and their consequences, as they seek commercial opportunities for their research.

More details and Register

Prof. Marom Bikson will speak on panel on entrepreneurship in New York City. (7:00-8:00PM on September 14th, Baruch College)

Our paper is published in NeuoImage

Halko M, Datta A, Plow E, Scaturro J, Bikson M, Merabet L. Neuroplastic changes following rehabilitative training correlate with regional electrical field induced with tDCS. NeuroImage . 2011; 57: 885-891

Read the paper: PDF

New Images of High-Definition tDCS with Marom Bikson and Abhi Datta

CUNY – Pictures by Dan Z Johnson

dan@danzphoto.net     www.danzphoto.net

Prof. Marom Bikson presents at the special tDCS Symosium at the Neuro-Cognitive Rehabilitation Research Network at the University of Pennsylvania.  Slides are posted

The Neural Engineering group at The City College of New York has several ongoing research and development collaborations with clincians at the University of Pennsylvania medical campus and hospitals.

This NCRRN is a collaborative effort of investigators at the Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute and the University of Pennsylvania to provide research infrastructure support and expert consultation to individuals interested in pursuing cognitive rehabilitation research.

Two technologies developed at CCNY Neural Engineering to be presented at the 2011 University Medical Innovation Showcase, June 7-8 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, New York, NY.

Prof. Marom Bikson will introduce:

High-Definition Transcranial Electrical Stimulation (HD-tES): Non-invasive, low-intensity, electrical Neurostimulation (see also Soterix Medical)
and
Wireless Intra-Operative Pulse Oximeter (with Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center) (see the project page)

Congrats to Abhi Datta and Marom Bikson on the COVER article in the prestigious Journal of Pain. Their study provides the strongest data yet for model supported optimization of tDCS therapy.

Mendonca ME, Santana MB, Baptista AF, Datta A, Bikson M, Fregni D, Araujo CP. Transcranial DC Stimulation in Fibromyalgia: Optimized cortical target supported by high-resolution computational models. Journal of Pain . 2011; 12(5):610-617 pdf

Spring 2011 NYC Emerging Technologies Summit- ”Opportunities in Neuroscience” features CCNY Neural Engineering technologies.

weblink

Date: Friday, May 6th 2011

Time: 1:00 – 6:00 PM

Location: CUNY Graduate Center, Recital Hall (1st floor), 365 5th Ave, New York

Prof. Marom Bikson will present technology on Non-Invasive Electrotherapy.

Much congratulations to Johnson Ho who is a 2011 Goldwater Scholar.  Johnson is the second Goldwater scholar from the Bikson lab.

From the CCNY announcement:

“Johnson Shiuan-Jiun Ho, a junior biomedical engineering major in the Grove School of Engineering and Macaulay Honors College at The City College of New York, has been awarded a Goldwater Scholarship for 2011.  The national award recognizes undergraduate students who demonstrate academic excellence and outstanding potential for future scientific research…

….Once Johnson began his classes, neural engineering piqued his interest.  The field applies engineering principles to brain research in order to develop treatments for neurological disorders.  “The brain is still a ‘black box’,” he noted.  “We kind of know how it works, but not really.”

Professor Marom Bikson’s research appealed to Mr. Ho because of the way it applied engineering solutions to medical problems for humanitarian purposes, and he became a member of his laboratory.  Professor Bikson investigates how electricity works on the brain, and he develops technologies to improve electrotherapy.  The technique stimulates the brain with electrical current delivered via electrodes attached to the scalp to treat intractable depression and the effects of stroke.

Professor Bikson seems to have a knack for nurturing promising researchers: Itamar Belisha, a 2007 City College Goldwater Scholar, also emerged from his lab.

As an undergraduate researcher in Dr. Bikson’s lab, Mr. Ho helped develop a technology to prevent the irritation and pain caused by existing electrotherapy devices.  Previous electrodes consisted of two large, bath-sponge sized pads.  Mr. Ho collaborated with lab members to develop a non-invasive, low-intensity, and portable brain stimulation device worn like a swim cap.  He reengineered the two pads to create an array of small electrodes the size of earbuds that dot the cap.  The group patented the technology and described it in the “Journal of Neuroscience Methods.”  Mr. Ho has contributed to two research papers and two patents from the lab.:

In the news: In Nature this week, an article on the potential of tDCS quotes Prof. Marom Bikson and introduces our HD-tDCS innovation, “X” configuration.

Read it here.

Our team led by Prof. Marom Bikson works with clinicians at Harvard Medical School / Boston Childrens Hospital to develop a medical device which enables rapid safe and noninvasive detection of the ON state of the vagus nerve stimulator (VNS).

Typically, the VNS device cycles between the the ON and OFF states such that during the ON period, a small amount of electrical current is delivered to the vagus nerve via two electrodes implanted beneath the skin.  The potential value of such a device is to (1) inform the patient, clinician or a secondary device when the VNS is ON and (2) whether there is any unexpected electrical current leak due to an insulation breech or electrical lead break.  This may be useful to quickly determine whether the VNS is functioning properly, as when a patient suspects that the device may not be working, or the device nears the end of its battery life, or after chest or neck trauma.

Technology and Innovation Discolsure

Monday, March 28^th @ 2 pm, Mr. Kalpaxis, Chief Technology Officer at 24eight ( http://www.24eight.com/default.html ) will make a presentation in the Steinman Hall Exhibition Room.  He is an CCNY GSOE alum and entrepreneur who is interested in presenting the numerous projects his company is working on and is also interested in interacting with the GSOE Entrepreneurship Program.

Welcome to Belen Lafon, new PhD student (Parra’s Lab)

Our overview on electrotherapy technology appears in the book Brain Stimulation in the Treatment of Pain. edited by Helena Knotkova, Ricardo Crucianim, and Joav Merrick published by Nova Science, New York 2011 ISBN 978-1-60876-690-1. book link in publishers page.

Bikson M, Datta A, Elwassif M, Bansal V, Peterchev AV. Introduction to Electrotherapy Technology. Read the chapter here.

Prof. Bikson presents an invited lecture on “Optimizing tDCS using computer modeling” on March 12 a the 8th Practical Course in Transcranial magnetic and electrical stimulation in Goettingen Germany (sponsored by the German Neuroscience Society) program

Congrats to Preet and Abhi on their paper in Clinical Neurophysiology.

Minhas P, Datta A, Bikson M. Cutaneous perception during tDCS: Role of electrode shape and sponge salinity. Clinical Neurophysiology . 2011; 122:637-638 link

PhD fellowships - perceptual/cognitive neuroscience, City College of New
York

Applications are invited for 2 PhD fellowships starting as early as Fall
2011 to conduct basic and applied systems neuroscience research, focusing on
the brain mechanisms of attention and decision making, under the mentorship
of Simon Kelly (http://bme.ccny.cuny.edu/people/faculty/skelly). The
fellowships are offered through the graduate program in Biomedical
Engineering in the City College of New York, and applicants must be sure
that they meet the program admission requirements (see
http://bme.ccny.cuny.edu/academics/doctor/doctor.php). Successful applicants
will mainly employ the methods of human psychophysics and electrophysiology
in the newly renovated Neural Engineering suite in the CCNY BME department,
but will have opportunities to work with other neuroimaging and
neurophysiology techniques through collaborations, depending on the chosen
research topic. Aside from the quantitative skills necessary for the BME
grad program, the successful candidates will have strong communication
skills and will be able to interact effectively with researchers across
multiple neuroscience-related disciplines. Research projects will be adapted
to the combined interests of the candidate and mentor. In general projects
will emphasize task-specific top-down control over perception and will
always aim to establish within-subject relationships between neural signals
and behavioral performance.
Applicants are encouraged to take a look at some of the publications
available at http://bme.ccny.cuny.edu/people/faculty/skelly to get a sense
of compatibility of research interests, and to email Dr. Kelly with a
statement of their interests and qualifications prior to their application.

Simon Kelly is a new addition to the Neural Engineering group within the BME
department in CCNY (http://bme.ccny.cuny.edu/research/areas/neural.php). His
background and expertise in basic cognitive neuroscience and clinical
investigations complements the extensive skills and experience in
quantitative physiology, signal processing and instrumentation of the
existing members, Marom Bikson and Lucas Parra. This collaboration makes for
a comprehensive and multifaceted overall research program in neuroscience,
and a highly interactive, dynamic and social environment. The neuroscience
research community in the wider New York area is especially vibrant, with
plenty of opportunities for intellectual interaction and fruitful
collaboration with outstanding scientists and engineers outside the
department.

Our paper “ Electrical stimulation of excitable tissue: Design of efficacious and safe protocols” is the most cited in the Journal of Neuroscience Methods with 171 citations since 2005 and counting. link to journal page or read the paper here

The paper presents a comprehensive explanation of electrochemistry fundamentals in functional electrical stimulation and is a basic and important resource for any investigator developing new stimulation methods or technologies.  The paper explains man issues central to balancing safe and effective stimulaiton, including voltage vs current control and uses/limitations of biphasic stimulation.

Martin Elias Costa is a Ph.D. student from the lab of Mariano Sigman, in Buenos Aires. He will visit us on Friday and he will present his work to the lab. He will talk about:

“Semantic bistability as a tool to explore spoken word recognition”

11 AM, Friday, Dec 10

BME conference room T402

Prof. Bikson presents a special lecture on “Modeling Effects of Neuromodulatory Tools” on Nov 19 at the Clinical, Assessment, and Intervention Updates in Neurorehabilitaiton course at Harvard Medical School.  Full brochure.

WATCH THE TALK here (at time 2:56)

The Neural Engineering Lab will present two posters at the 2010 Society for Neuroscience conference in San Diego this week. We’ll be showcasing our work on modulation of synaptic plasticity with weak DC fields by Asif Rahman and low-amplitude electric field effects on network dynamics by Davide Reato.

Mon, Nov 15, 4:00 – 5:00 PM
Poster #451.8/H52
Effects of weak direct current stimulation on synaptic plasticity in rat motor cortex in-vitro; electrophysiological and molecular analysis of mechanism.
D Reato, A. Rahman, T. Radman, M. Gleichmann, L. C. Parra, M. Bikson.

Tue, Nov 16, 3:00 – 4:00 PM
Poster #645.27/G21
Intrinsic network dynamics govern sensitivity to weak electric fields: Adaptation, modulation, and sub-harmonic pacing.
D. Reato, M. Bikson, L. C. Parra.

Congratulations to Abhi on the acceptance of his paper to Brain Stimulation “Individualized model predicts brain current flow during transcranial direct-current stimulation treatment in responsive stroke patient” by Abhishek Datta, Julie Baker, Marom Bikson, and Julius Fridriksson.  This paper is a fundamental technical advance in the modeling of brain current flow in individuals with stroke during tDCS.  Well done!

Prof. Bikson presents on “Toward next generation non-invasive electrical modulation” to the Interdisciplinary Neuroimaging Research Meeting at  the University of South Carolina.

Also, the Aphasia Laboratory at the University of South Caroline, led by Dr.Julius Fridriksson, initiates a Phase-1 HD-tDCS clinical trial.  The Aphasia Lab at USC has published seminal studies on the recovery of speech function using tDCS following stroke.

The following posters were presented at SFN 10 in San Diego:

Davide Reato, Marom Bikson, Lucas C Parra, “Intrinsic network dynamics govern sensitivity to weak electric fields: Adaptation, modulation and sub-harmonic pacing”

Asif Rahman, Davide Reato, Thomas Radman, Mark Gleichmann, Abhishek Datta, Lucas C Parra, Marom Bikson, “Effects of Weak Direct Current Stimulation on Synaptic Plasticity in Rat Motor Cortex in vitro”

Some pictures from San Diego.

The CCNY BME Seminar by Jerry Korten, General Manager Strategic Markets at GE Healthcare, who will talk on “Epic Fail, Great Design versus the Clinical Value Proposition“.   The seminar will be held on October 27, 2010 at 3:00 PM in Steinman Hall Room ST-402.

Our Wireless Intraoperative Pulse Oximeter (“WiPOX”) enters Phase 1 clinical trials at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC).  Developed by Dr. Marom Bikson, Luiz Carolos Olleris, and Varun Bansal in collaboration with Dr. Prasad Adusumilli (MSKCC), the WiPOX have a wide range of potential applications ranging from acute (home) patient monitoring to plastic surgery.  Learn more at our Project page.

Dr. Marom Bikson will present our paper on the effects of DBS electric field on blood-brain barrier permeability to the Columbia Brain Stimulation and Therapeutic Modulation journal club.  This will be relevant for other modalities like ECT, MST, and TMS.  See also the Neual Engineering Project Page,

Wednesday, 8/18/10 at 1pm in Pardes Room 5001.

Congratulations Davide at al. on the paper “Low-intensity electrical stimulation affects network dynamics by modulating population rate and spike timing” accepted by The Journal of Neuroscience.

Asif brings this popular press articles to our attention: PopSci and New Scientist articles.

This was with conventional tDCS. So imagine the the further “boost” with our HD-tDCS (abhi’s key article, Soterix).

Soterix Medical is a CCNY Neural Engineering spin-off that will develop the most state-of-the-art technology for non-invasive neuromodulation including tDCS and HD-tDCS.

“Neural Engineering applies engineering principles to solve questions in brain research, interesting overview article” from the Neurotechnology twitter feed.

Davide Reato gives the first of three lectures today on neuron models. The first lecture introduces neuronal modeling to the uninitiated – first describing types of models (compartmental models, cascade models and black box models) then followed by a discussion on classes of spiking neurons. The second lecture in this series will dive into the ways to model neurons.

Xiang Zhou will present “Outer hair cell function correlates with tinnitus” at the Fourth International TRI Conference: Frontiers in Tinnitus Research in the University of Texas, Dallas (June 8-11).

Friday Lab meeting: Xiang Zhou presents his work on tinnitus modeling and psychophysics.

“We hypothesize that tinnitus is the result of a gain-adaptation mechanism that, when confronted with degraded peripheral input, increase neuronal gains such that spontaneous neuronal activity is perceived as a phantom sound. The aim of this study is to find a colleration between the tinnitus percept with measures of peripheral processing on an individual subject basis. We try to predict the tinnitus likeness spectrum from both distortation product otoacoustic emission(DPOAE) and audiogram with high frequency resolution.” – Xiang Zhou

Congratulations to Preet Minhas et al. for a paper accepted to Journal of Neuroscience Methods!

“Electrodes for high-definition transcutaneous DC stimulation for applications in drug-delivery and electrotherapy, including tDCS” by Preet Minhas, Johnson Ho, Varun Bansal, Jinal Patel, Julian Diaz, Abhishek Datta, and Marom Bikson

Congratulations Abhi et al. on a paper accepted to NeuroImage!

“Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Patients with Skull Defects and Skull Plates: High-Resolution Computational FEM Study of Factors Altering Cortical Current Flow” by Abhishek Datta, Marom Bikson, and Felipe Fregni (collaborator at Harvard Medical).

Ranu Jung, Associate Professor at the Center for Adpative Neural Systems in Arizona State University will give a seminar on “Neuromorphic Design and Neural Prosthesis for Restoring Sensorimotor Function.

Friday Lab Meetings: Davide will present his article on the effects of fields on gamma oscillations, “Low-intensity electrical stimulation affects network dynamics by modulating population rate and spike timing – modulation, pacing and resonance”

Friday Lab Meeting: Jacek will present progress of the optimization of high-definition tDCS stimulation.

Welcome Mathias Huber, from the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, who is a visiting scholar in the Neural Engineering group.

Two technolgies developed at CCNY Neural Engineering featured at the NYC Emerging Medical Technologies Summit.

2:30 PM Special Friday Seminar: Dr. Mingzhou Ding (Professor BME at U, Florida) will speak on “Dynamic Organization of Brain Networks”.

NOTE We will not have our regular Friday morning seminar on this day. Note the seminar is at 2:30 PM.

2:00 PM, Leslie Blaha (Indiana University, Bloomington) will present a special seminar on “A Dynamic Hebbian-style Model of Configural Learning”

Marom Bikson presented at the International Symposium on Neuromodulation in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

“In vitro studies: designing targeted stimulation protocols” work by Tom Radman, Asif Rahman, and Davide Reato.

“Computer modeling : what have we learned to design new interventions?” work by Abhishek Datta.

Friday Lab Meetings: Asif Rahman presented recent data on effects of DC fields on cortical synaptic function.

Tom’s paper on Spike Timing Amplifies the Effect of Electric Fields on Neurons: Implications for Endogenous Field Effects (Thomas Radman, Yuzhuo Su, Je Hi An, Lucas C. Parra, and Marom Bikson. The Journal of Neuroscience, March 14, 2007) was featured and discussed on Scientific Blogging.

The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) initates a clinical trial on experimental pain using our High-Definition transcranial Electrical Stimulation (HD-tES) system. Jeff Borckardt and Mark George will lead the trial.

Marom Bikson, Abhi Datta, and Varun Bansal visited MUSC to deliver and set-up the technology.

Two medical technolgies developed in our lab are selected for the upcomming “NYC MedTech” showcase, organized by Columbia University on March 26th.

Prasad Adusumilli will present “Real-time intraoperative detection of tissue hypoxia by a novel wireless Pulse Oximetry (WiPOX)” based on our hand-held sensor technology.

Marom Bikson will present “H-sink: A method to reduce tissue heating at implantable medical devices including neuroprosthetic devices“

Friday Lab Meetings: João will present the experiments and preliminary results on visual perception using the synchronization of Eye tracking and EEG, and the motivations behind the experiments.

Friday Lab meetings: Xiang will present the experiments he is performing about the voltage measurements at the scalp applying extra-cranial AC electric fields.

Marom Bikson presents among the finalists of the NYC Bioaccelerate Prize.  “Breakthrough in Electrotherapy Technology: High-Density Transcranial Electrical Stimulation (HD-tES)”. The presentation will be at the Bank of America Tower (One Bryant Park).

Maged completed his first PhD exam. Congratulations!

The new website is now available at neuralengr.com

NYC Bioaccelerate Award FINAL ROUND selects our High-Density Transcranial Electrical Stimulation therapy. Congratulations design team!

http://www.bioacceleratenyc.org

Marom Bikson speaks at the National Institute of Health, National Institute of Aging on “A new medical device for non-invasive neuro-modulation and therapy with very low-intensity electrical currents“.

Marom Bikson speaks at the Creative Management of Childhood Epilepsy symposium at New York Presbyterian Hospital (brochure) on technical challenges in epilepsy detection and electrotherapy (slides).

Varun Bansal and Abhishek Datta attend and present at the CIMIT Innovation Congress 2009 in Boston (Varun’s poster).

Asif presents his poster at the 2009 Society for Neuroscience (SfN 2009) conference in Chicago:

T. Radman, A. Rahman, A. Datta, D. Reato, M. Bikson, “Low-amplitude DC electric fields induce long-term potentiation in rat motor cortex in vitro”

Some pictures from Chicago:

Two of our papers are published in Brain Stimulation. Congratulations to Abhi and team on another cover!

Radman T, Ramos RL, Brumberg JC, Bikson M. Role of cortical cell type and morphology in sub- and suprathreshold uniform electric field stimulation. Brain Stimulation. 2009; 2(4):215-228. PDF

Datta A, Bansal V, Diaz J, Patel J, Reato D, Bikson M. Gyri-precise head model of transcranial DC stimulation: Improved spatial focality using a ring electrode versus conventional rectangular pad. Brain Stimulation. 2009; 2(4):201-207. PDF

Marom Bikson presents insights on mechanisms and technology for tDCS at the National Institute of Health (NIH), National Institute of Neural Disorders and Stroke.  Slides

A picture from Davide’s birthday:

Congratulations to Yuzhuo Su who successfully defended her PhD thesis.

Cell reconstructions from Thomas Radmans upcoming paper “Role of Cortical Cell Type and Morphology in Sub- and Suprathreshold Uniform Electric Field Stimulation” posted on NeuroMorpho.Org.

Davide gave a talk (“Effect of electric fields on gamma oscillations in brain slices“) at the journal club of the Division of Brain Stimulation and Therapeutic Modulation at the Columbia University Medical Center.

The Journal of Medical Devices (Volume 3, Issue 2, June 2009) has published our following abstracts from the 2009 Medical Device Conference

1. High-Density Transcranial DC Stimulation (HD-tDCS): Targeting Software
A. Datta, V. Bansal, J. Diaz, J. Patel, L. Oliveira, D. Reato, and M. Bikson
J. Med. Devices 3, 027518 (2009)

2. High-Density Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (HD-tDCS): Hardware Interface
J. Diaz, V. Bansal, A. Datta, J. Patel, and M. Bikson
J. Med. Devices 3, 027544 (2009)

3. High-Density Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (HD-tDCS): Skin Safety and Comfort
J. Patel, V. Bansal, P. Minha, J. Ho, A. Datta, and M. Bikson
J. Med. Devices 3, 027533 (2009)

4. Temperature Control at DBS Electrodes Using Heat Sinks: Experimentally Validated FEM Model of DBS Lead Architecture
M. Elwassif, A. Datta, and M. Bikson
J. Med. Devices 3, 027534 (2009)

5. Intra-Operative Pulse Oximetry
L. Oliveira, E. Servais, N. Rizk, P. Adusumilli, and M. Bikson
J. Med. Devices 3, 027533 (2009)