Liang Guo

Joined 2005, Bioengineering (BME) Ph.D. program
Homepage
My current research is devoted to tissue-level neural interfacing using novel PDMS-based conformable microelectrode arrays (MEAs). While having developed reliable and easy-to-use PDMS-based conformable MEA technologies for multichannel neural/muscular surface recording and stimulation, I am trying to explore more neural/muscular mysteries that can only be revealed from data with a high dimensionality, and to engineer novel neural prostheses that can only be enabled by the conformable MEA technologies. My hope is that the PDMS-based conformable MEA technologies will provide neuroscientists with a new tool to study the nervous systems, and provide biomedical engineers with a new capability to address challenging neurological and neuromuscular diseases through novel neural prosthetics.

JoAnna Todd

Joined 2005, Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. program
Research

Michelle Kuykendal

Joined 2006, Bioengineering (ECE) Ph.D. program
I am investigating our ability to selectively stimulate tissue in vitro. To do this I image neural activity via calcium-sensitive fluorescence dyes to understand how extracellular electrical stimulation excites cultured cortical tissue. I use this technique to explore new stimulus waveforms that will enable us to localize excitation both spatially and temporally. This work can greatly improve our ability to target tissues and networks to ultimately aid in clinical applications such as epilepsy treatment and DBS or surface cortical stimulation.

Chris Tuthill

Joined 2006, Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. program
Research

Dustin Li

Joined 2007, Bioengineering (ECE) Ph.D. program
Homepage
I am using hybrid neural microsystems to investigate the effect of sensory feedback on motor patterns. I am currently integrating crayfish electrophysiology with mechanical systems to explore how resonance tuning occurs beyond simulation, in situ. These results will be used to advance biological control of robots.

Sarah Steinmetz

Joined 2007, Bioengineering (BME) Ph.D. program
I am investigating the muscle activation patterns generated in the sandfish, a sand swimming lizard, as it locomotes subsurface. By changing the properties of the granular media through which it swims, I hope to discover how sensory feedback changes the neural signal generated in order to optimize performance. This work may be used to advance the actuation strategy of robotic systems when navigating complex media. Research

Keith Van Antwerp

Joined 2007, Bioengineering (ME) Ph.D. program
I use standing balance as a paradigm to study how the central nervous system controls movement of the body. I do this by perturbing the support surface (the floor) of humans and animals, measuring their muscle activity, forces and joint angles. I hope to tease out biomechanical and neural strategies used in animal movement. In addition, I use computational models to provide further insight and experimental guidance in problems of neural control of movement. Hopefully, my research will inspire novel robotic control strategies, prosthetics and orthotics, and result in a deeper understanding of movement disorders.

Wafa Soofi

Joined 2008, Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. program
Research

Aaron Hughes

Joined 2008, ECE Ph.D. program
Aaron Hughes is currently performing a rotation in the DeWeerth lab as part of the IGERT Hybrid Neural Microsystems program. Presently, he is integrating two systems designed by former PhD students in the lab, in an attempt to create a mechanical dynamic clamp system that couples an isolated muscle to a robotic device. This new system will be used in experiments that analyze the tuning of neuromechanical dynamics during standing balance control as well as during rhythmic movement. The "robot+muscle" system will complement human balance and movement studies and will allow the lab to investigate the effects of actual muscle properties on neuromechanical dynamics. The principles revealed by this work will form a novel and necessary framework for interpreting scientific studies in the neural control of movement, designing compliant and multifunctional robots to interact with humans and/or dynamic environments, developing neural prosthetics devices, and interpreting changes in movement patterns in motor dysfunction.

Laura Kitashima

Joined 2009, Electrical Engineering
Mentor: Liang Guo
Undergraduate Research Scholars Program

I am working with Liang Guo on digitally processing signals recorded using conformable microelectrode arrays. Ultimately, we hope to be able to detect a signal from one nerve, process that signal, and then accurately transmit the signal to another nerve. Currently, we are experimenting using frog muscles and nerves. These results will be applied to vocal cord disorders.

Srinija Konduru

Joined 2009
Mentor: Liang Guo

Siddharth Tantia

Joined 2009
Mentor: Liang Guo

Hubert Pan

Joined 2009, Biomedical Engineering
Mentor: Dustin Li

Blake Vanderwood

Joined 2009
Mentor: Michelle Kuykendal