Biomedical Engg

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My research has centered around recreating movement systems and movement in silico.

 Towards this end we have developed a platform called NEUROiD with

·        model builder – for building a multiscale motor systems model incorporating Spinal cord neuro anatomy, ion channel physiology, neural network connectivity patterns.

·        Co-simulator – Co-simulates neurophysiology using NEURON and musculoskeletal mechanics on OpenSim

·        Renderer – Web based renderer for viewing the model and movement

·        Two exemplar systems – a human lower limb and human upper limb.

Applications of this in silico movement platform are underway

·        to Explore distribution and localization of musculoskeletal joint control within the spinal cord

·        to Explore effects of spinal cord stimulation on movement

·        to Understand implications of above for therapeutic stimulation

·        to Understand the contribution of proprioceptive afferents in observed movement

·        as a platform for Reinforcement Learning of movement control

·        as a Virtual Patient

My lab has experimental facilities for

.        quantifying human gait and movement including a range of motion tracking, eye tracking, force plates and electrophysiology. These are used as data that are paired off against simulated movement.

Artificial Intelligence

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I work at the interface of Computational Neuroscience and computer vision algorithms to create bio-mimetic approaches to learning, especially computer vision of human movement and understanding movement patterns.

Heritage science and Technology

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I am interested in understanding the neuro-musculoskeletal underpinnings of intangible heritage systems such as Yoga, Indic performing arts and martial arts. I also have a keen interest in development of technology around theatres and Yoga studios. We use our state of the art 'Human gait and movement laboratories' at IIT Hyderabad for creating a technology innovation system around these heritage professions.

(As Principal Investigator)

MoE SPARC      91.6 lacs       2023-25

Design and validation of upper limb orthopedic implant using closed loop neurobiomechanics simulation

DST      5.27 Crore       2022-25

Takshashila Centre for multidisciplinary Heritage Science and Technology

DST 48.05 lacs       2020-23

Reconstructing spinal cord neural dynamics during exercise and yoga

MEITy 31.25 lacs         2019-22 

Neuroinformatics and simulation platform for evaluation of movement disorders

SERB 24.1 lacs         2015-18

Development of a reusable model component library for human spinal cord modeling and simulation

(As Co-investigator)

DST     82.8 lacs             2022-27

Indo-Italy networks of Excellence (IITH, IITM, Amrita University)

Focus area : Computational Neuroscience of Movement ; Digital Twin for movement.

BIRAC 42.7 lacs         2020-21

Surgeo Assist: An indigenous neurosurgical assistance platform for safer spinal surgeries

Raghavan, M., Simha, M.S.H. and C.R., Ramaswamy. (2023). Elements of Indic Knowledge Systems and Heritage. HTSR Institute, ISBN 978-81-964176-0-4.  [Link to book site] 

Rangayyan, Y.M., Kidambi, S. and Raghavan, M., (2023). Deaths from undetected COVID-19 infections as a fraction of COVID-19 deaths can be used for early detection of an upcoming epidemic wave. Plos one, 18(3), p.e0283081. 

Iyengar, R.S., Mallampalli, K., Singh, A.K., Koppula, A., Sridharan, K.S. and Raghavan, M., (2023). The NEUROiD neuromusculoskeletal movement simulation platform. In Digital Human Modeling and Medicine (pp. 161-197). Academic Press. 

Kapardi, M., Pithapuram, M.V., Rangayyan, Y.M., Iyengar, R.S., Singh, A.K., Sripada, S. and Raghavan, M., (2022). In-silico neuro musculoskeletal model reproduces the movement types obtained by spinal micro stimulation. Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine, p.106804. 

Pithapuram, M.V. and Raghavan, M., (2022). Automatic rule-based generation of spinal cord connectome model for a neuro-musculoskeletal limb in-silico. IOP SciNotes, 3(1), p.014001. 

Mahankali, N.S., Raghavan, M. and Channappayya, S.S.,( 2021). No-Reference Video Quality Assessment Using Voxel-wise fMRI Models of the Visual Cortex. IEEE Signal Processing Letters. 

Raghavan, M. ., and Maigur, R. K., (2021). Pratyāhāra – A Neuroscientific perspective of Yoga Shastra. Yoga Vijnana - The Science and Art of Yoga, 1(1). MDNIY. [pdf]

Raghavan, M. and Maigur, R.K., (2021). Indian Costumes through the Ages: Insights into Sartorial Choices Using Mathematical Biology. Archaeometry. https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.12681 

Iyengar, R.S. and Raghavan, M., (2020), December.  MPI Parallelization of NEUROiD Models Using Docker Swarm. In 2020 IEEE 26th International Conference on Parallel and Distributed Systems (ICPADS) (pp. 655-660). IEEE. 

Raghavan, M., Sridharan, K. S., & Mandayam Rangayyan, Y. (2020). Using epidemic simulators for monitoring an ongoing epidemic. Scientific reports, 10(1), 16571. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-73308-5 

Pithapuram, M. V., Iyengar, R S., Singh, A K., Raghavan, M. (2020)  A Neuromechanical model of lower limb with lumbosacral spinal cord controller for InSilico spinal cord stimulation experiments, in Virt. Phys. Hum. Conference (Accepted for Oral presentation) , 2020.

Prakash, S.C., Ganguly, S., Yadav, P.K., Raghavan, M. and Sridharan, K.S., (2020, July). Evaluation of a gamified upper-arm bimanual trainer for stroke patients-A healthy cohort study. In 2020 International Conference on Signal Processing and Communications (SPCOM) (pp. 1-5). IEEE.

 Mallampalli, K., Patel, S., Iyengar, R.S., Sridharan, K.S. and Raghavan, M., (2020, July). Tool for image annotation based on gaze. In 2020 International Conference on Signal Processing and Communications (SPCOM) (pp. 1-5). IEEE.

Singh, A. K., Pithapuram, M. V. and Raghavan, M. (2020) ‘Coupling neural simulations with inverse kinematics through proprioceptive afferents’, in Virt. Phys. Hum. Conference (Accepted as Poster) , 2020.

Iyengar, R. S., Pithapuram, M V., Singh, A K., Raghavan, M.  (2019) ‘Curated model development using NEUROiD: A web-based NEUROmotor integration and Design platform’, Frontiers in neuroinformatics. Frontiers, 13, p. 56.

Pithapuram, M. V., Iyengar, R. S. and Raghavan, M. (2019) ‘In silico Spinal cord model shows the viability of targeting segmental foci along rostrocaudal axis for eliciting a variety of movement types’, BMC Neuroscience, 28th Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting: CNS*2019 in, 20(1), p. P254. doi: 10.1186/s12868-019-0538-0.

Sankaranarayani, R., Raghavan, M., Nalini, A., Laxmi, T.R. and Raju, T.R., (2014). ‘Reach task-associated excitatory overdrive of motor cortical neurons following infusion with ALS-CSF‘. Journal of Neural Transmission, 121(1), pp.49-58. 

Raghavan, M., Amrutur, B., Narayanan, R. and Sikdar, S.K., (2013). ‘Synconset waves and chains: spiking onsets in synchronous populations predict and are predicted by network structure‘. PloS one, 8(10), p.e74910. 

Ramamurthy, S. and Raghavan, M. (2013) ‘Filter design for synthesis of musical notes: A multidimensional feature-based approach’, in 2013 IEEE International Conference on Signal and Image Processing Applications. IEEE, pp. 106–111.

Raghavan, M., Amrutur, B., Srinivas, K.V. and Sikdar, S.K.  (2012) ‘A study of epileptogenic network structures in rat hippocampal cultures using first spike latencies during synchronization events’, Physical biology. IOP Publishing, 9(5), p. 56002.

Preprints and papers under review

Iyengar, R. S., Mallampalli, K., Raghavan, M., (2021) ‘A novel paradigm for  deep reinforcement learning of biomimetic systems‘, bioRxiv.

BM2033 (2-credits)

Probability and Random Processes

[2021-          ]

BM2043 (2-credits)

Algorithms - Design and Analysis

[2021-         ]

BM5050 (1-credit)

Introduction to Brain and Neuroscience

[2014-      ]

BM6140 (2-credits)

Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience

[2015-       ]

BM6243 (2-credits)

Neuromechanics

[2018-        ]

BM5030 (1-credit)   

Scientific Computing

[2015-2020]

Founding Co-Head, Centre for Healthcare Entrepreneurship at IITH (2015 - 2018)

o   Co-led the pitch (along with Prof. Renu John) to a group of IIT alumni and investors for setting up a $ 4 million Center in the area of Healthcare Entrepreneurship at IIT Hyderabad.  IIT Hyderabad was granted the opportunity to set up the Center

o   Setup the Center for Healthcare Entrepreneurship as founding co-head along with Prof Renu John. As part of the setup phase

§  Conducted an inaugural conference to launch the Center in the presence of Sri KTR, Cabinet Minister, Government of Telangana.

§  Put together the eco system consisting of investors, clinicians, other incubators, technologists, entrepreneurs and academicians.

§  Managed media outreach

§  Setup processes for nationwide talent search to unearth potential entrepreneurs and screening them to identify fellows for CfHE

§  Designed and setup the academic curriculum and pedagogy for the fellowships

o   Administered and mentored the CfHE Fellowships (2016-18). The CfHE fellowships are an annual yearlong fellowship program in entrepreneurship for healthcare. It is hosted at Center for Healthcare Entrepreneurship at IIT Hyderabad and is very sought after by budding entrepreneurs.

§  Mentor budding entrepreneurs in Design Thinking for healthcare.

§  Analysis and identification of unmet needs in a variety of healthcare scenarios, brain storming, ideation, technology for healthcare delivery

o   Companies mentored:

§  Nemo.care, a focused neonatal and maternal care company out to prevent mortality and reduce morbidity by innovative monitoring solutions

§  BeAble Health is focused on increasing the efficacy of current arm rehabilitation therapies by bringing in gamification and quantification

§  Kvayat Medical is developing solutions for improving quality of bed bound patients in ICUs. Their first product aims to achieve fecal clearance non-invasively and with near zero chances of infection

§  Heamac Healthcare aims to solve fundamental problems in the way phototherapy is deployed and used in various settings in our country

§  Vaccine On Wheels aims to bring vaccines to the doorstep, thereby increasing the penetration of vaccines and convenience of delivery

 Post-Doctoral Fellow at National Centre for Biological Sciences-TIFR, Bangalore (2014)

o   Vatsala Lab; Motor Systems Modeling

Interdisciplinary PhD in Computational Neuroscience at IISc, Bangalore (2008 – 2014)

o   First Spike Latency based coding in neuronal networks

All-India-Rank 12 in Graduates Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE- 2008)

o   GATE - Computer Science – 2008

7 years of professional experience at Motorola India (2001-2008)

o   Embedded systems, DSP and device drivers.

o   Part of global team that created the world’s first 3G phone

“Bachelor of Engineering” in Computer Science and Engineering from Bangalore University

    Coordination for a new B.Tech in Biomedical Engineering

o   Study of existing Biomedical programs in India and abroad and global research landscape

o   Understanding the demands in the industry for manpower in this area

o   Design and conception of curriculum with active inputs from departmental colleagues

o   Coordination within and across department

·        Chair of Department Post Graduate Studies Committee (2019- 23)