Abstract - Leah Krubitzer
Our goal is to fabricate an integrated system to monitor, image, and regulate neural activity using an implantable, portable microfluidic device that through rapid cooling, produces reversible virtual “lesions” to the neocortex and regions of brain affected by disease. This device, termed the “Cooling Chip” abolishes neural activity while simultaneously monitoring neural activity, vascular shunting and local temperature without inducing any permanent damage to the brain. The technologies to be integrated in the final device have been utilized in animal models and humans by members of our team. These include the cooling chip itself; flexible, multichannel electrode arrays for recording neural activity; molecular and temperature sensing microsystems; and non-‐invasive optical and infrared imaging. Our multidisciplinary team includes bioengineers, neuroscientists, and clinicians who will assimilate these technologies and translate them for use in numerous clinical applications including but not limited to: {i} Localization and reversible ‘ablation’ of epileptogenic foci; {ii} ”Reversible ablative mapping” of neural tissue prior to neurosurgical resection following brain injury or tumor removal; {ii} Circuit “retraining” for abnormalities ranging from cortically mediated phantom limb pain to PTSD. Given our combined expertise, in a short period of time this system can be translated from animal models to human trials.
AWARDS
| Principal Investigator | Institution | Title | Abstract |
| Andersen, Richard | California Institute of Technology | Engineering Artificial Sensation | View |
| Andrews, Anne | University of California, Los Angeles | Nanoscale Neurotransmitter Sensors | View |
| Bloodgood, Brenda | University of California San Diego | A novel toolkit for visualizing and manipulating activity-induced transcription in living brain. | View |
| Chaumeil, Myriam | University of California, San Francisco | In vivo metabolic imaging of neuroinflammation using hyperpolarized 13C | View |
| Cleary, Michael | University of California, Merced | Capturing physiological maps of neural gene expression | View |
| Cohen, Bruce | University of California, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory | Nano-optogenetic control of neuronal firing with targeted nanocrystals | View |
| Dai, Hongjie | Stanford University | Deep brain imaging of single neurons in the second near-infrared optical window | View |
| Hall, Drew | University of California, San Diego | Magnetic Monitoring of Neural Activity using Magnetoresistive Nanosensors | View |
| Krubitzer, Leah | University of California, Davis | An integrated system to monitor, image, and regulate neural activity | View |
| Kubby, Joel | University of California, Santa Cruz | Three-Photon Microscopy with Adaptive Optics for Deep Tissue Brain Activity Imaging | View |
| Melosh, Nicholas | Stanford University | Parallel Solid State Intracellular Patch-Clamping with Biomimetic Probes | View |
| Park, B. Hyle | University of California, Riverside | Label-free 4D optical detection of neural activity | View |
| Portera-Cailliau, Carlos | University of California, Los Angeles | High-speed interrogation of network activity with frequency domain multiplexing | View |
| Shanechi, Maryam | University of Southern California | Control-Theoretic Neuroprosthetic Design Using Electrocorticography Signals | View |
| Smith, Will | University of California, Santa Barbara | Whole brain imaging in a primative chordate | View |
| Wood, Marcelo | University of California, Irvine | Epigenetic PET tracer for cross-species investigation of age-related memory dysfunction | View |