BRAINET · Networked Distributed Neural Interfaces for Interference-Based Brain Stimulation

Invasive Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) has become an important way to treat neurological diseases within the greying European society making a tether-less improvement desireable.The BRAINET team is convinced to have identified such an alternative in spatio-temporal Interference Stimulation (stIS). stIS avoids implantation into the brain and uses instead pairs of electrodes to precisely target activating beating rhythms in the depth of the brain at the therapeutic region, without requiring deep seated electrodes. In order to unleash this stimulation power in all regions of the brain, BRAINET sets out to develop skull implantable stimulation hubs which build a communication network and 3D targeting by self-organization, providing semantic information transfer and synchronization, and thus enabling virtual, self-adjusting pairs for therapeutic stIS. These stimulation hubs will be powered by novel magneto-electrical transducer stacks, driven by slowly alternating magnetic fields from the outside and will perform adjustable frequency stimulation by novel nano-modified, compliant electrodes only touching the brain. Network formation will be enabled by multiphysics approaches and ionic in-body communication instantiated in dedicated microelectronic hardware. Preclinical in-vitro and in-vivo testing of devices and methods will allow the community to make important steps towards subsequent clinical implementation of our „Wireless Transcalvarial Brain Stimulators“. BRAINET will allow us to prepare the next generation of researchers, arming them with the knowledge, skills, and visionary insights necessary to drive neuro-technology to replace the present DBS into uncharted, but reliably safer and more flexible territories. BRAINET is an engine for excellence, interdisciplinary convergence, and innovation. Its dual mandate is to establish a training network and thus to lay the groundwork for emerging leaders.