º£½ÇÉçÇø

An interdisciplinary team of Imperiaacademics has secured £3.66 million in funding from the Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA) to develop miniature sensors that could read brain activity from inside the brain’s blood vessels, without the need for open brain surgery.

The project, Endovascular Acoustic Interfaces for Scalable Neural Biomarker Readout, is part of ARIA’s £50 million Massively Scalable Neurotechnologies programme. It is led by Dr Yunlong Zhao, Associate Professor in Electrochemical and Bioelectronic Interface at the Dyson School of Design Engineering, and brings together researchers from the departments of Design Engineering, Bioengineering, Mechanical Engineering and Brain Sciences. 

"The ambition of this project goes beyond developing another neural interface. We want to fundamentally rethink how we access and understand the human brain. By bringing together breakthroughs in bioelectronics, acoustics, mechanics and neuroscience, we aim to overcome some of the biggest barriers in neural sensing and lay the foundations for a new generation of massively scalable brain–machine interfaces," said Dr Zhao.

"If successful, this could transform not only how we study the brain, but how we diagnose and treat neurological conditions – and, ultimately, how we interact with the brain itself.” 

Using the brain’s blood vessels as a route in 

Measuring how brain activity changes over time could help identify biomarkers (measurable signs in the body) of neurological conditions and show how the brain responds to disease and treatment. However, obtaining high-quality signals from deep or widely distributed regions of the brain remains difficult. 

“One of the greatest challenges in neuroscience is our limited ability to monitor activity deep within the brain continuously and safely,” said Dr Marco Brancaccio, Associate Professor in the Department of Brain Sciences and UK Dementia Research Institute Group Leader, who will lead the project’s neuroscience work. 

By bringing together breakthroughs in bioelectronics, acoustics, mechanics and neuroscience, we aim to overcome some of the biggest barriers in neural sensing and lay the foundations for a new generation of massively scalable brain–machine interfaces.  Dr Yunlong Zhao Associate Professor in Electrochemical and Bioelectronic Interface at the Dyson School of Design Engineering, and brings together researchers from the departments of Design Engineering, Bioengineering, Mechanical Engineering and Brain Sciences

Non-invasive technologies, such as electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), provide valuable information about brain activity, but cannot always capture signals with the precision or sensitivity that some applications require. Implanted neural interfaces offer more direct access but typically require surgery. 

The team will explore a different route. The brain is supplied by an extensive network of blood vessels that reach deep into its tissue. Doctors already use these vessels to reach the brain through catheter-based procedures, for example when treating stroke. 

The Imperiaresearchers will investigate whether the same pathways could be used to place miniature devices inside blood vessels close to brain tissue. These devices would record brain activity from inside the blood vessels without the need to open the skull or penetrate the brain itself.

“We will explore how medical robotics and catheter-based approaches can support the controlled and accurate delivery of these devices within the vascular system,” said Professor Ferdinando Rodriguez y Baena, Professor of Medical Robotics in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Co-Director of the Hamlyn Centre for Robotic Surgery, who will support the development of device delivery strategies. 

Using ultrasound to communicate

Positioned at several locations, such devices could pick up signals from different parts of the brain. A key question is how to communicate with devices this small, deep inside the body. The team will explore whether acoustic communication could offer a solution.

“Ultrasound travels well through biological tissue and is already widely used in medical imaging,” said Professor Mengxing Tang, Professor of Biomedical Imaging in the Department of Bioengineering. “We will test whether it can also be used to send signals to the interfaces and read out information from them non-invasively.” In the long term, this approach could make it possible to measure brain activity at multiple locations without requiring a wired connection to each implanted device. 

One of the greatest challenges in neuroscience is our limited ability to monitor activity deep within the brain continuously and safely. Dr Marco Brancaccio Associate Professor in the Department of Brain Sciences and UK Dementia Research Institute Group Leader

Beyond communication, the devices must also operate safely and reliably within the challenging vascular environment over extended periods. Computational and multi-physics modelling will help guide their design and predict their performance inside the body.

“Understanding how these devices interact with biological tissues, blood flow and mechanical forces is essential to ensuring their long-term safety and reliability,” said Professor Daniele Dini, Professor of Tribology in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, who will lead the project’s mechanical and multi-physics modelling.

“By combining computational modelling with experimental evidence, we aim to better understand these interactions and guide the development of safer and more effective devices,” added Dr Tian Yuan, Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, who will contribute to the project’s multiscale modelling and mechanical analysis. 

Testing the technology in the living brain 

The team will also validate the technology’s ability to monitor neural activity in the living brain. Dr Brancaccio’s group will test whether the new miniature acoustic sensors can reliably capture what is happening in the brain. By recording nerve cell activity both electrically and optically, the team will establish how accurately the sensors detect changes in brain activity, both in healthy conditions and in experimental models of epilepsy. 

They will also assess how well the sensors perform over time and whether they are compatible with living brain tissue. “We will provide the experimental neuroscience expertise needed to validate the technology in living systems, bridging the gap between engineering innovation and its potential application to understanding brain function and disease,” said Dr Brancaccio.  “By combining engineering innovation with experimental neuroscience, we hope to establish a new approach to monitoring brain activity that could ultimately benefit both fundamental research and clinical applications.” 

Future impact 

Recording brain activity through the vascular system could transform how researchers study and monitor the living brain. “For patients, the long-term ambition is to enable earlier detection and more precise monitoring of abnormal brain activity, particularly in conditions such as epilepsy and neurodegenerative diseases,” said Dr Brancaccio. 

By combining computational modelling with experimental evidence, we aim to better understand these interactions and guide the development of safer and more effective devices. Dr Tian Yuan Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow in the Department of Mechanical Engineering

“Ultimately, we hope this work will contribute to a new generation of minimally invasive brain interfaces that support personalised diagnosis and, potentially, treatments that respond dynamically to changes in brain activity.” 

Opening a new route to neural signals across the brain, the technology could one day help the human brain communicate with intelligent systems.

“Neurotechnology can transform lives, but the burden of getting treatments to the brain limits who can benefit. These ten teams are testing radically different access routes and technologies – from blood vessels, the nasal passage and airways, to engineered cells, nanoparticles and soft robotics.

Each is a 36-month feasibility study, so the first question is whether the underlying science and engineering can work. Together, they could establish an entirely new paradigm to access, sense and modulate the brain without conventional brain surgery,” said Jacques Carolan, Programme Director for Massively Scalable Neurotechnologies at ARIA. 
 

The project is led by Dr Yunlong Zhao (Dyson School of Design Engineering), with co-investigators Professor Daniele Dini and Dr Tian Yuan (Mechanical Engineering), Professor Mengxing Tang (Bioengineering), Professor Ferdinando Rodriguez y Baena (Mechanical Engineering and the Hamlyn Centre) and Dr Marco Brancaccio (Brain Sciences and UK Dementia Research Institute). 

Grant number: SCNI-PR02-P001, Funded by ARIA 
More: