April 16, 2021

About the speaker

Dr. Paul Choi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UTRGV.

A High-Density Single Neuron Interface

The fundamental unit of most neuroscience projects is individual neuron activity, where the isolation and control of a single neuron and identification of its specific functionality is desirable. Single neuron interfaces with integrated neural networks have been designed to be adapted to a variety of neuroscience studies. A neuron in the peripheral nervous system is connected to a neuron in the brain through a single spinal cord neuron in between. Single neuron stimulation then generates a repeatable discrete electrophysiological signal pattern throughout the CNSPNS. We have been developing a single neuron interface covering the whole CNS-PNS. The first generation that consisted of an array of microchannels and manually imbedded wire electrodes demonstrated promising results such as nerve regeneration and signal recording at the single neuron level. The presented research will allow us to contribute to the decoding of cellular level activity of neuroscience research using the single neuron interface. The ultimate goal of the project is the development of mind controlled prosthetics which will provide the same level of functionality as that of original limbs. The higher sensitivity and stronger nature of robotic limbs to that of an original limbs can provide clear advantages to amputees whose experience and expertise would otherwise be lost due to career-ending injuries that result in loss of limb.