Researchers in Barcelona have developed a graphene-based brain implant able to record electrical activity in the cortex at extremely low frequencies and over large brain areas, unlocking the wealth of information found below 0.1 Hz. The prototype was developed at the Barcelona Microelectronics Institute (IMB-CNM, CSIC) and the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), and was adapted for brain recordings in collaboration with the August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS). Published in Nature Materials, the groundbreaking technology promises to enhance our understanding of the brain and pave the way for the next generation of brain-computer interfaces.
Details of the underlying technological advances (patent pending) can be found in Nature Materials, with lead author Eduard Masvidal Codina of IMB-CNM, CSIC. Work at this institute was led by Dr Anton Guimerà Brunet, while ICREA Prof. Jose A Garrido led efforts at the ICN2. The project is co-funded by the Graphene Flagship and the BrainCom projects. The ICN2 is funded by the CERCA programme / Generalitat de Catalunya, and by the Severo Ochoa Centres of Excellence programme, funded by the Spanish Research Agency (AEI, grant no. SEV-2017-0706).
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Article reference:
Eduard Masvidal-Codina, Xavi Illa, Miguel Dasilva, Andrea Bonaccini Calia, Tanja Dragojević, Ernesto E. Vidal-Rosas, Elisabet Prats-Alfonso, Javier Martínez-Aguilar, Jose M. De la Cruz, Ramon Garcia-Cortadella, Philippe Godignon, Gemma Rius, Alessandra Camassa, Elena Del Corro, Jessica Bousquet, Clement Hébert, Turgut Durduran, Rosa Villa, Maria V. Sanchez-Vives, Jose A. Garrido & Anton Guimerà-Brunet. High-resolution mapping of infraslow cortical brain activity enabled by graphene microtransistors. Nature Materials (2018). Published: 31 December 2018. DOI: 10.1038/s41563-018-0249-4
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