The UCL/ICTEAM IEEE Student Branch is glad to invite you to the following seminar :
“Toward Brain-Machine-Brain Interfaces for the Recovery of Vital Functions”
given by Mohamad Sawan, Professor, and Canada Research Chair, Polystim Neurotech Lab., Polytechnique Montréal.
The event will be held on Friday 12th of June 2015 at 3:30 pm in the Shannon meeting room (Maxwell A.105).
Abstract:
Emerging Brain-Machine Interfaces for the diagnostic and treatment are promising alternative to study neural activities underlying cognitive functions and pathologies, and eventually to recover lost neural vital functions. This talk covers circuit techniques and Microsystems intended for intracortical neurorecording and neurostimulation. The implementation of these devices requires dealing with multidimensional design challenges such as power management, low-power circuit design, high-data rate communication, and reliable wireless energy recovery. Case studies of continuous neurorecording intended for learning about the intracortical vision mechanism, and for spike onset detection of epileptic seizure focus localization and treatment will be described. In addition, microstimulation in the primary visual cortex intended to recover vision for the blind through multisite large arrays of microelectrodes will be reported. Finally, Lab-on-chip (LoC) based neuro-transmitters detection, manipulation and characterization intended to locate dysfunctions at the level of neural cells interconnections will be summarized.
Biography:
Mohamad Sawan received the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from Sherbrooke University, Sherbrooke, Canada in 1990. He joined Polytechnique Montréal in 1991, where he is currently a Professor of microelectronics and biomedical engineering. His interests are the design and test of analog, digital, RF, MEMS and optic circuits and Microsystems, and clinical imaging. Dr. Sawan is a holder of a Canada Research Chair in Smart Medical Devices, he is leading the Microsystems Strategic Alliance of Quebec (ReSMiQ), and is founder of the Polystim Neurotechnologies Laboratory. Dr. Sawan is founder and cofounder of several international conferences such as the IEEE International NEW circuits and systems (NEWCAS) conference, the IEEE Int’l conference on electronics, circuits and systems (ICECS), and the IEEE Int’l conference on biomedical circuits and systems (BIOCAS). He is also cofounder and Associate Editor (AE) of the IEEE Transactions on BIOCAS, he is Editor and AE, and member of the board of several international Journals. He published more than 650 peer reviewed papers, two books, 12 book chapters, and 12 patents. Dr. Sawan received several awards, among them the Bombardier Award for technology transfer, the Jacques-Rousseau Award for Multidisciplinary research, the medal of merit from Queen Elizabeth II, the medal of merit from the President of Lebanon for his outstanding contributions, and the Barbara Turnbull Award for spinal cord research in Canada. He is Fellow of the IEEE, Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada, and Officer of the Quebec’s National Order.