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Neural Interface Laboratory

The mission of The Neural Interface Laboratory is to investigate the means of interfacing with the central and peripheral nervous system for the purpose of collecting information about its natural function and modulation of it in the case of neurological disorders.

A number of projects are currently underway dealing with stimulation and recordings of the peripheral and central nervous system geared towards development of neural prostheses for disorders like Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Spinal Cord Injury. Organization in the spinal cord white matter is also investigated with electrophysiology experiment. Other projects deal with development of neural electrodes.

The laboratory is fully equipped for animal surgery, fast acquisition of neural signals, fiberoscopy imaging, electrophysiology experiments, and fabrication of nerve electrodes.

Some of the funding agencies that has supported Dr. Sahin's research are Louisiana State Board of Regents, The Whitaker Foundation, The Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, and National Institute of Health.

CURRENT PROJECTS

Extraction of Motor Signals from the Spinal Cord

Neural Prosthesis for Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Floating Micro-Stimulators for Neural Prosthetic Applications

Alternative Waveforms for Neural Stimulation

Extraction of Motor Signals from the Spinal Cord

Experiments were conducted to selectively record the neural activity descending in the corticospinal tract (CST) of the spinal cord at the cervical level in a chronic rat model. These signals were analyzed to extract the voluntary motor signals. The long term goal is to use the extracted motor signals as a means of generating command signals in high level spinal cord injury patients. The organization of the LCST fibers was studied at different levels of the cervical spinal cord as a part of this project.

Funding for this project was provided by Whitaker Foundation and The Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation.

Neural Prosthesis for Obstructive Sleep Apnea (publication)

The main objective is to dilate the upper airways by electrical stimulation of the 12th cranial nerve (hypoglossal), with a long term goal of developing a Neural Prosthesis for severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) patients. This device will remove the obstructions (upon detection) in OSA patients by activation of the tongue muscles through selective stimulation of the hypoglossal nerve. In a dog model, the images of the upper airways are obtained using a STORZ flexible fiberoscopy system (http://www.ksvea.com/fiberscopes.html) to evaluate the effect of stimulations and thus find the optimum stimulation parameters for maximal dilation of the upper airways.

This project was conducted in collaboration with the Neural Engineering Center at Case Western Reserve University and funded through the Heart Lung and Blood Institute of NIH.

Floating Micro-Stimulators for Neural Prosthetic Applications (abstract)

A small silicon PIN photodiode was designed and optimized for remote activation of neurons in the central nervous system. Software packages of ANSYS, CoventerWare, and FEMLAB were utilized for modeling and the fabricated devices are being tested in a rat model. Prototype devices were fabricated by Dr.Ünlü's group at Boston University.

Preliminary data were generated with funding from Louisiana Board of Reagents/Support Fund. The project is currently supported by NIH/NINDS Neural Prosthesis Program.

H o m e _* C o u r s e s _*R e s e a r c h _*P e o p l e _*L i n k s _*R e c e n t p u b l i c a t i o n s _* C o n t a c t _* BMEHome


Neural Interface Laboratory The mission of The Neural Interface Laboratory is to investigate the means of interfacing with the central and peripheral nervous system for the purpose of collecting information about its natural function and modulation of it in the case of neurological disorders. A number of projects are currently underway dealing with stimulation and recordings of the peripheral and central nervous system geared towards development of neural prostheses for disorders like Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Spinal Cord Injury. Organization in the spinal cord white matter is also investigated with electrophysiology experiment. Other projects deal with development of neural electrodes. The laboratory is fully equipped for animal surgery, fast acquisition of neural signals, fiberoscopy imaging, electrophysiology experiments, and fabrication of nerve electrodes. Some of the funding agencies that has supported Dr. Sahin's research are Louisiana State Board of Regents, The Whitaker Foundation, The Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, and National Institute of Health.
CURRENT PROJECTS Extraction of Motor Signals from the Spinal Cord Neural Prosthesis for Obstructive Sleep Apnea Floating Micro-Stimulators for Neural Prosthetic Applications Alternative Waveforms for Neural Stimulation Extraction of Motor Signals from the Spinal Cord Experiments were conducted to selectively record the neural activity descending in the corticospinal tract (CST) of the spinal cord at the cervical level in a chronic rat model. These signals were analyzed to extract the voluntary motor signals. The long term goal is to use the extracted motor signals as a means of generating command signals in high level spinal cord injury patients. The organization of the LCST fibers was studied at different levels of the cervical spinal cord as a part of this project. Funding for this project was provided by Whitaker Foundation and The Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation. Neural Prosthesis for Obstructive Sleep Apnea (publication) The main objective is to dilate the upper airways by electrical stimulation of the 12th cranial nerve (hypoglossal), with a long term goal of developing a Neural Prosthesis for severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) patients. This device will remove the obstructions (upon detection) in OSA patients by activation of the tongue muscles through selective stimulation of the hypoglossal nerve. In a dog model, the images of the upper airways are obtained using a STORZ flexible fiberoscopy system (http://www.ksvea.com/fiberscopes.html) to evaluate the effect of stimulations and thus find the optimum stimulation parameters for maximal dilation of the upper airways. This project was conducted in collaboration with the Neural Engineering Center at Case Western Reserve University and funded through the Heart Lung and Blood Institute of NIH. Floating Micro-Stimulators for Neural Prosthetic Applications (abstract) A small silicon PIN photodiode was designed and optimized for remote activation of neurons in the central nervous system. Software packages of ANSYS, CoventerWare, and FEMLAB were utilized for modeling and the fabricated devices are being tested in a rat model. Prototype devices were fabricated by Dr.Ünlü's group at Boston University. Preliminary data were generated with funding from Louisiana Board of Reagents/Support Fund. The project is currently supported by NIH/NINDS Neural Prosthesis Program. H o m e _* C o u r s e s _R e s e a r c h _P e o p l e _L i n k s _R e c e n t p u b l i c a t i o n s _* C o n t a c t _* BMEHome