Neural Implant podcast - the people behind Brain-Machine Interface revolutions

Ursula Costa is the Head of Clinical Affairs at Hocoma AG, an established neural rehabilitation company based in Zurich, Switzerland. She is a licensed physical therapist who has recovered herself from a spinal cord injury as a young girl and then nurtured her passion for neurorehabilitation. She holds a PhD from Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona in Physical Therapy and has held a professorship at...

Debbie Backus is with the Shepherd Center, a rehabilitation hospital located in Atlanta, and is also the president of ACRM, a multidisciplinary organization whose mission is to help improve the lives of people with disabilities, particularly brain and spinal cord injuries. In this episode, she discusses the current technologies used to help patients with movement disabilities, how far the technolo...

Vivian Mushahwar is a professor at the University of Alberta in the Department of Medicine, and she is in the division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation . She has a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and a PhD in bioengineering, and has completed two postdoc positions in rehab medicine and neuroscience. In this episode, she discusses some of the technologies she is researching and d...

David Pitino is a health technology researcher who started the Abilities Research Center in Mount Sinai. In this episode, he discusses innovation in the health tech industry, and how such technology and the industry overall can be improved.   Top three takeaways: Communicating with your end user is critically important in solving challenges with medical technologies. One major improvement in most...

Steven Plymale is the CEO of MyndTec. He joined the firm in late 2017 and has more than 25 years of experience in the medical device industry. Previously, he was CEO of Profound Medical, bringing the company from a small six-person team to going public in 2015 in an IPO that raised $60 million. Plymale was also with Xltek, now a division of Natus Medical, and Claron Technologies. Milos Popovic is...

Thierry Keller is a researcher in Tecnalia , a research institute in Spain. In this episode, he discusses some of the neuroprosthetic technologies for upper and lower extremity stimulation and recording that he is working to develop in his institute. Top three takeaways: Multiple stimulation channels, such as on the transcutaneous array, can provide better resolution of functions There needs to be...

Paul Meadows is one of the founding members of IFESS and a  veteran in the neurotech industry. He is currently the Chief Technology Officer at Imthera in the development of neurostimulation device for obstructive sleep apnea. The company was recently acquired by LivaNova. Previous Meadows was involved with neurotech development at Advanced Bionics as well as the Alfred E. Mann Foundation. Takeaway...

The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich's Robert Reiner was one of the key figures to initiate the Cybathlon in 2016. The Cybathlon is a unique event in the development of every- day assistive devices in which people living with various disabilities compete while using the latest developments. There are six disciplines from advanced wheelchairs to FES cycling. Florian Haufe, a PhD cand...

Doctor Henry Greely is a professor of law at Stanford University . His primary focus surrounds discussing the ethics of biological innovation and their implications to society. He is the president and founder of the International Neuroethics Society . In this episode, he delves into the complications associated with developing ethics in the similarly developing fields of biotechnology. Top Three T...

Doctor Takashi Kozai, or Doctor TK Kozai,  is currently an assistant professor at the Swanson School of Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh . He currently works in his own laboratory and researches in-vivo calcium brain imaging. He also has a background in research concerning carbon electrode development. He has been offered to work with the Neuralink Team associated with Elon Musk , but t...

Doctor Alejandra Gonzalez is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Texas-Dallas that works in the fields of neurotechnology. She currently focuses on how she can develop graphing fibers that have better electrochemical properties for implantable devices. Top Three Takeaways: Her team is creating graphing fibers without good electrochemical properties and good mechanical properties to use...

Ian Baumgart is a Biomedical Engineering Master's student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison . He currently conducts research in Doctor Kip Ludwig's Neural Engineering Laboratory . Baumgart's current project focuses on the Injectrode, which is an injectable pre-polymer that can act as a conductor throughout the body along with nerves. Top Three Takeaways: The Injectrode is basically liquid pre...

Doctor Cary Kuliasha is a postdoctoral research associate working with Doctor Jack Judy's research laboratory at the University of Florida . His team focuses on the potential effects the body's environment could have on biomedical devices over time through accelerated aging. Kuliasha's work currently focuses on how Anisotropic Conductive Adhesive technology could be applied to bioelectronics since...

Andrew Trask is currently a student at Oxford University  and Author of Grokking Deep Learning   performing his Ph. D. concerning anonymizing data. He discusses the facts concerning deep and machine learning and their possible benefits to society. Trask also discusses privacy securing techniques that would further benefit the field. Finally, Trask discusses his connection with Open Mind, which is...

Cory Inman is a postdoctoral fellow at Emory University School of Medicine who studies the effect deep brain stimulation has on the emotional experience of humans. He seeks to treat depression in patients and potentially improve their memories through the effects of deep brain stimulation. In this episode, he explains how his team studies deep brain stimulation and navigates the ethics associated...

Jim Cavuoto runs Neurotech Reports where he seeks to educate the industry and public  concerning neurotechnology and neuroprosthetics. Cavuoto studied at Case Western University as a biomedical engineering student and began writing about neurotechnology as an undergraduate student. His organization serves as an information source for four fields of  neurotechnology: neuromodulation, neuroprostheti...

Jennifer French  of Neurotech Reports received a spinal cord injury in 1998 and became the first woman to receive the Stand and Transfer neural implant system. A silver medalist in sailing at the 2012 Paralympic Games, she sits down to discuss her experiences with her implantable device and how it has affected her life. During this discussion, she mentions her struggles and successes with her devi...

***Apologies! The wrong episode audio was incorrectly uploaded previously***   Dr. Francisco Delgado , or Frank, has worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University Florida under Dr. Kevin Otto's laboratory for a little over two years. As he plans to move on and pursue his career with the Food and Drug Administration , he reflects back on what he received as working in the Otto lab. Not only...

Thomas Hughes, JD works as the senior principal advisor for The Regulatory and Clinical Research Institute based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His organization works to assist medical device companies pass regulatory steps to sell their product and find paths for reimbursements necessary to fund the medical devices. He stresses that one of the most critical steps in developing a device involves focus...

Doctor Frederic Gilbert works at the University of Tasmania in Australia and studies neuroethics. A major theme is how Deep Brain  Stimulation affects personality disorders. In a very limited amount of research, studies have  indicated that some patients have experienced strong personality changes inclining them to  depression, addiction and sometimes even suicide. Gilbert paints the importance of...

Robert Gaunt is in the field of biomedical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh's  Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation focusing on sensory neuroprosthetics. His research aims to assist patients who suffer from afflictions that range from amputations to  bladder control. He recognizes the challenges the development of neuroprosthetics faces and  urges that more funding and r...

Roberta Goode started Goode Compliance International to assist companies in the industry of biomedical engineering facing the scrutiny of regulations instilled by organizations like the Food and Drug Administration. Goode explains the purpose of her company and the path she took to ensure its success through years of experience and learning. She later began Altrec LLC as a second career to assist...

Founded by Martin Bak in 1983, Microprobes for Life Science seeks to provide a unique  electrode model that uses Parylene-C as an insulator. This company aims to sell customizable products to neuroscientists studying electrophysiology. All products are handmade, tested for precision and quality, and made by request of the customer. The company has experienced steady growth at 6-8% since its concep...

As the Chief Executive Officer of Nia Therapeutics , Dan Rizzuto and his team are currently developing a neurological implant that increases the memory of patients suffering from Alzheimer's diseases and traumatic brain injury. By using deep brain stimulation (DBS) to increase high frequency functions and decrease low frequency functions in areas important to memory, such as the frontal lobe, Nia...

Jack Judy is the director of Nanoscience Institute for Medical and Engineering Technologies at the University of Florida He serves to bridge the divide between engineering, medicine, and the sciences through the work he does with neurotechnologies and neural implants. He has focused on peripheral nerve interfaces and how stimulating these could help amputees in the Wounded Warrior Project. He has...