Viscoelastic Interactions of the Brain Tissue with Brain-Computer Interfaces

ongoing

IICT is an autonomous institute within the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. The VIBraTE project aims at enhancing the scientific excellence of IICT and its capacity to gain competitive research funding by establishing an ERA Chair focused on a better understanding of the interactions of implants with the brain tissue and the technologies to interface the human brain (i.e. brain-computer interfacing, BCI) and Deep Brain Stimulation devices. The high-level scientific objectives of the action are to: (i) investigate the viscoelastic coupling between the brain and implanted electrodes; (ii) optimize the interface geometry for invasive and non-invasive BCIs; (iii) model and investigate diffusion of substances around implants; (iv) model the mechanical effects on recorded brain activity. The Chair will open an experimental BCI lab, which will test model predictions in brain tissue phantom models and will close the loop between theory and experiment. The action will also establish a project management and technology office that will support the long-term funding strategy of the Chair and stakeholder interactions. The long-term ambition of the action is to enable the formation of a Bulgarian high-tech pole in neurotechnology. The prospective Chair relies on the combined expertise of the ERA Chair holder in neurotechnology and mathematical modeling with the relevant expertise in neural network models and scientific computing and signal processing, already available at the host. The VIBraTE chair will allow for the formation of a group with top expertise in Bulgaria, which will participate as an equal partner in international research programs and will become a central knowledge hub for neurotechnology in the country.