Implantable microelectronic devices (IMD) and neuroprostheses are finding applications in new therapies thanks to advancements in microelectronics, microsensors, RF communications, and medicine, which have resulted in embedding more functions in IMDs that occupy smaller space and consume less power, while offering therapies for more complex diseases and disabilities. I will address the latest developments in key building blocks for state-of-the-art IMDs, particularly on the analog front-end, RF back-end, and power management. IMDs have been quite successful in neuroprosthetic devices, such as cochlear implants and deep brain stimulators. They have been recently approved for vision and are being considered for brain-computer interfacing (BCI) to enable individuals with severe physical disabilities to control their environments, particularly by accessing computers. Implantable BCIs, however, are highly invasive and should be used when there are no less invasive alternatives that would offer similar benefits. They can also be utilized as advanced tools for neuroscience research on freely behaving animal subjects. I will talk about the example of a smart cage, which can wirelessly power, communicate with, and track sensors implanted in or attached to small freely behaving animals. At the same time, novel minimally-invasive methods are being explored for individuals with severe paralysis to make the best use of their remaining abilities to control their environments. An example of such technologies is a wireless and wearable brain-tongue-computer interface (BTCI), also known as the Tongue Drive System (TDS), which enables individuals with tetraplegia to control their environments using their voluntary tongue motion.
Maysam Ghovanloo received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Tehran, and the M.S. degree in biomedical engineering from the Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran in 1997. He also received the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 2003 and 2004.
Dr. Ghovanloo developed the first modular Patient Care Monitoring System in Iran where he also founded a startup to manufacture physiology and pharmacology research laboratory instruments. From 2004 to 2007 he was an Assistant Professor in the Department of ECE at the North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC. Since 2007 he has been with the Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, where he is an Associate Professor and the founding director of the GT-Bionics Lab. He has 5 issued patents and authored or coauthored more than 200 peer-reviewed conference and journal publications on implantable microelectronic devices, integrated circuits and micro-systems for IMD applications, and modern assistive technologies.
Dr. Ghovanloo was the general chair of the IEEE Biomedical Circuits and Systems (BioCAS 2015) in Atlanta, GA in Oct. 2015. He is an Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering and IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems. He served as an Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems, Part II (2008-2011), as well as a Guest Editor for the IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits and IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering. He has also served on the Imagers, MEMS, Medical and Displays subcommittee of the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) from 2009-2014. He has received the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, the Tommy Nobis Barrier Breaker Award for Innovation, and Distinguished Young Scholar Award from the Association of Professors and Scholars of Iranian Heritage.
