Mixed-Signal Electronics for Optogenetic Experiments and Cell Monitoring
Neurodegenerative disorders occur as a result of progressive loss of structure, function and/or death of neurons in the brain. The goal of the Training4CRM project, is to address gaps in cell-based regenerative medicine for treatment of neurodegenerative disorders (e.g. Parkinson’s (PD), Huntington’s (HD) Epilepsy (EPI)) by joint training and education of 15 PhD students within and across different scientific disciplines. The goal is to master the design, fabrication, integration and testing of completely new tools and materials within the fields of micro and nanoengineering and biotechnology. The Training4CRM network comprises 6 academic institutes and 3 industry partners from 6 European countries (Denmark, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Italy, and the Netherlands).
Training4CRM is a four-year project, funded by the European Union Horizon 2020 Programme. In this project, my duty is designing of electronics circuits for optical stimulation, electrochemical sensing and impedance measurements. For optical stimulation, I have designed a circuit that sends specific wavelength of light into brain. This light will activate genetically modified neurons (light sensitive neurons), which can be useful for treatment of neurodegenerative disorders (by restoring the capability to produce the lacking neurotransmitter in a regulated manner). I also have designed an electrochemical sensing circuit for electrochemically monitoring of neurotransmitters. By the use of this circuit, better understanding of neuronal communication, and functional integration of implanted cells will be possible. All these circuits were designed in collaboration with our partners, more specifically University of OSLO (UiO) and Technical University of Denmark (DTU).
In addition to design a platform for optical stimulation and electrochemical measurements, I have designed and successfully tested two chips. The first chip was a 2nd-order single-bit continuous time delta sigma modulator (CTDSM). An improved version of the aforementioned CTDSM is designed and included as an ADC in an innovative low-power integrated system to tracking the impedance of biological samples. To combine a wide frequency range (1kHz – 10MHz) and a low-power operation , a digital-controlled analog mixer down-converts at few kHz the higher frequency components of the input impedance in order to reduce the required bandwidth of the ADC. The stimulus signals applied to the sample under test are square waves that can be easily generated without a DAC, differently from the more common sinusoidal stimulus.
For more information about the project, please visit the following website.
http://www.training4crm.eu/
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