Student project: Peripheral nerve stimulation – exploration of experimental methodologies

Business Development         ·      Eindhoven        ·      Full time

This project aims to develop experimental methodology for spatially selective stimulation of peripheral nerves and local measurement of the stimulation effect within the nerves.

What we do for you

The peripheral nervous system (PNS) consists of the nerves outside of the central nervous system (CNS) and connects the CNS to the organs, muscles, and skin. It is a bi-directional pathway between the CNS and internal organs and hence can have a powerful impact on the functionality of both. Currently, interest in peripheral nerve stimulation is growing as an alternative or a complement to pharmacological treatment, i.e., treatment with medication, for applications such as epilepsy, pain, depression, and chronic inflammatory diseases.

One of the major challenges is specific spatial stimulation of only the population of nerve fibres within the PNS that is needed for modulating the activity of specific organs. Avoiding unspecific stimulation would have the advantage of minimizing unwanted side effects.

At imec we have developed basic experimental setups to measure the effects of different types of stimulation on phantom setups and animal models. This project aims to further expand the available setups and explore the experimental methodology for spatially selective stimulation of peripheral nerves. The main focus would be on in vivo experiments where a selected set of stimulation methods will be tested. Furthermore, an evolution of the sensing subsystem is foreseen to have better estimation of the spatial targeting and the identification of conduction velocity of nerve fibres. To achieve this goal the student will work with benchtop systems using imec’s and/or off-the-shelf devices and components and perform bench side stimulation experiments, mainly in animals with a simple nervous system, such as worms.

Student tasks:

• Literature review.
• Adapt the existing benchtop system (few iterations envisioned).
• Design and perform experimental evaluations (several experimental rounds foreseen).
• Report and documentation, depending on results write a paper.

What we do for you

You will be working on cutting-edge research relevant to the field of peripheral nerve stimulation. You will have the opportunity to lead your own project while having the support of an international team of subject matter experts ranging from biomedical engineering to neuroscience and biology.

Who you are

• You are an MSc student in neuroscience, biomedical engineering, biophysics or equivalent.
• You have a background in electrophysiology and data acquisition.
• You are eager to take on your project and work independently.
• Good command of spoken and written English.
• Available for 6 months or longer.
• Optional: Skills in data analysis and programming in Python or Matlab.

Interested

Does this project sound like an interesting next step in your career at imec? Don’t hesitate to submit your application by clicking on ‘APPLY NOW’.

Got some questions about the recruitment process? Martijn Kohl of the Talent Acquisition Team will be happy to assist you.

Please click here to apply.