Our lab is adding openings for 2 additional post-doc positions. There are a total of 3 fully funded post-doctoral positions open at this time.

Our lab is hiring for a new postdoctoral scholar. See description below.

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The UCI BCI lab is actively recruiting for a post-doctoral scholar to join our research team in designing a fully implantable BCI system to help people with paralysis due to neurological disorders (e.g. spinal cord injury, stroke, etc.). We are seeking highly motivated individuals to start immediately on a new project which includes the following research activities and responsibilities:

1. Undertaking neuro-electrophysiological experiments with patients undergoing ECoG electrode implantation, analysis of data collected
2. Undertaking embedded system design and programming
3. Interacting with and recruiting study patients coming from a variety of neurological conditions (epilepsy, SCI, stroke, etc.)
4. Interacting with industry consultants to undertake industrial design, and interacting with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding device regulations
5. A variety of related multi-disciplinary tasks

Desired qualifications:

1. PhD or equivalent in biomedical engineering, electrical engineering, physics, neuroscience, computer science or related fields
2. Experience with acquisition and analysis of EEG, ECoG, or local field potentials
3. Experience in BCI or other neural prosthetics application
4. Experience with neural electrical stimulation research
5. High proficiency in Matlab and C/C++/C#
6. Proficiency in embedded systems
7. History of good human and patient interaction and good interpersonal skills
8. Industrial experience in medical devices is preferred

This project is done in collaboration with local institutions, including University of Southern California (USC), California Institute of Technology (Caltech), and Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center. A significant amount of experimental and clinical research work will be performed offsite from UC Irvine, and hence car ownership and the ability to drive between sites is mandatory for this position. Interest in staying 4-5 years is preferred.

Interested candidates should submit a curriculum vitae, personal statement, and contact information for at least 2 references to Prof. An Do, MD (and@uci.edu).

Our research team has been awarded an $8M research grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to continue our development on a fully implantable BCI system. The goals of this project will be to develop and test bi-directional (BD), electrocorticogram (ECoG)-based brain-computer interface (BCI) system in people with paraplegia due to SCI. This system is envisioned to restore both brain-controlled walking and leg sensation after SCI. The project will also aim to develop an implantable prototype that will undergo animal testing for safety so as to eventually obtain FDA approval for human testing.

BCI research can become an expensive endeavor. The price point may be too high for researchers and even prospective patients to afford. In addition, many of the systems that are currently used in BCI research turn out to be bulky and complex. This makes it time consuming to set up, and may prohibit lay persons from figuring out how to operate one.

Our research team has designed and tested an low cost, open-source BCI platform which uses a custom EEG amplifier array and an Arduino Due microcontroller board. The entire system costs about $300, and operates at a level similar to a 32-channel EEG-based BCI running off a desktop computer.

For those who are interested, the details of the circuit design and system can be found in our publication: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/7851005/

The open-source software is available here: https://github.com/cbmspc/PortableBCI

Our recent publication, “The feasibility of a brain-computer interface functional electrical stimulation system for the restoration of overground walking after paraplegia,” received a significant media attention. Some of the coverage is summarized here.

Our study, entitled, “The feasibility of a brain-computer interface functional electrical stimulation system for the restoration of overground walking after paraplegia,” was recently published in the Journal of Neuroengineering and Rehabilitation. This study described how a man with T6 spinal cord injury resulting in paraplegia was able to utilize his EEG signals to control a BCI-FES system to walk overground. This represents the first time that a person was able to re-establish “brain-controlled” walking using such technology. The history of this study can be found here.

http://www.jneuroengrehab.com/content/12/1/57

We recently completed a Phase I clinical trial which examined the safety of a BCI-FES system for dorsiflexion therapy in chronic stroke survivors. Applying the BCI-FES therapy not only appeared to be safe, but may also lead to an increase in gait velocity. Additional study will be necessary to examine the potential efficacy of this therapy. The paper can be viewed by going to the link above.

 

The UCI Brain Computer Interface Lab has undergraduate and master level student researcher positions open in the below areas (research descriptions included):

• Mechanical Engineering: Students will be involved in the design of implantable enclosures for electronics. This includes the design and fabrication of titanium alloy enclosures to house implantable electronics for a brain-computer inteface system, which will ultimately be surgically implanted into the brain and body. The design process will most likely involve learning 3D CAD design and CNC milling. Testing will involve hermetic seal testing, thermodynamic testing and simulation, electrical integrity testing, etc.
• Biosciences/Social Sciences: Students will be involved in studying the reception of brain-computer interfaces in society. Students will be involved in studying how brain-computer interface are percieved amongst the people it is intended to target. This study will involve survey design, conducting interviews in the field, and performing analysis on responses.
• Electrical Engineering: Students will be involved in the design and fabrication of circuits necessary for an implantable brain-computer interface system. This will include the use of electronic schematic design and implementation on electronic layout programs, followed by fabrication at printed circuit board manufacturers. Testing will involve electrical integrity testing as well as field testing of the brain-computer interface systems.

Interested undergraduate students are asked to commit at least 3 quarters of research, and must hold a GPA of 3.5 or higher. 199 options are available, as are UROP opportunities. Masters students are required to take research thesis option in their degree track.

To the best of our knowledge, the UCI BCI Lab achieved the first ever restoration of brain-controlled walking after paraplegia due to spinal cord injury (SCI), as demonstrated in recent papers. Although our lab and the project has been underway for some time, its entire history is now documented here.

These results were recently presented at the IEEE EMBS 2014 Conference in Chicago, Illinois (8/26-8/30/14). We hope that with more development and refinement, this will be a first step in eventually achieving a technological “cure” for paraplegia after SCI.

Our collaborative research team, consisting of Dr. Payam Heydari (UCI EECS), Dr. Zoran Nenadic (UCI BME), Dr. Charles Liu, MD, PHD (Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, Neurosurgery), and myself, have just been awarded a multi-PI grant from the National Science Foundation to initiate the initial steps of development of a fully implantable brain-computer interface system. The $1 million research grant will be used to support our research efforts over the next 4 years, with the goal to develop a benchtop version of a fully implantable BCI, capable of acquiring electrocorticogram signals and analyzing them internally to enable direct brain control of a robotic gait exoskeleton (RGE) for walking.