The UPSIDE project has the overall goal of combining electrical recording and ultrasound stimulation for the treatment of depression, as a less invasive alternative to the more intrusive approach of deep brain stimulation.
The overall system is designed to be portable, with the core consisting of an epidural focused ultrasound stimulation device (eFUS) and a high-density epidural electrical recording device (eREC). This will allow for FUS stimulation of different brain regions and micro-electrocorticography (uECOG) readout of biomarkers in behavior experiments with animal models featuring depression-like symptoms.
In the planned work packages of the UPSIDE project, the design of the eREC was planned in Work Package 1 (WP1) and it is the responsibility of TU Delft. TU Delft, from a system level perspective, identified the specifications of the eREC, such as power, area, noise, channel count, etc. After specification definition, the design phase was initiated. Arecording architecture has been , focusing on minimizing both component footprint and power consumption. As a proof of concept, the WP1 will involve designinga prototype with 64 channels. The system is designed to be modular, such that it can easily be scaled to 1024 channels in the second phase of the project.
By the end of Q2/2024, the eREC will be validated using Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis (SPICE) simulation and its layout will be sent for production in TSMC 40-nm 1p7m CMOS technology. TU Delft expects to receive the prototype eREC chips in August 2024 and start the experimental verification immediately, including in vitro, and in vivo validation.
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