[2024, most likely already taken] New non-invasive neuromodulation technique for vagus nerve stimulation (VNS)

Recently, a revolutionary neuromodulation technique has been invented in the Bioelectronics section, coined coded interference neuromodulation. The technique is expected to be able to provide minimally invasive neuromodulation with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution. This, in turn, might open a wealth of new or better treatment modalities for brain disorders and disorders associated with other parts of the nervous system.

Assignment

The foreseen (but negotiable) activities are the following:

1. Literature study on neuromodulation in general and relevant (complimentary) neuromodulation techniques;
2. Comsol modeling (FEM) of the efficacy and efficiency of the new neuromodulation technique;
3. Proof-of-principle circuit design (using standard components);
4. Testing in a phosphate-buffered saline solution;
5. (testing in vitro, on cell cultures, or ex vivo, on explanted nervous tissue);
6. (testing in vivo, either on animals or on volunteers);
7. Reporting;
8. If the findings are positive, writing a scientific paper that you may present at an international conference.

Requirements

For this project, we are looking for an MSc student in the MSc Electrical Engineering, Biomedical Devices profile.

This is a scientific technology project that is unique in its kind and therefore extremely well suited for MSc students that might be interested in doing a PhD project directly after their MSc studies. Depending on the duration, in total, either 45 or 60 EC can be awarded.

Contact

Last modified: 2024-03-08