On Nov 18th 2022, Prof. Marom Bikson speaks at the International Neuromodulation Symposium on “Developing tDCS as a therapeutic tool”.
Slides: PDF
Dr. Marom Bikson joins the faculty of the International Neuromodulation Society (INS) 2022 interim meeting in Mumbai, India. Nov 11-Nov 13, 2022. event details
Dr. Bikson will gives three talks:
On Nov 11, 2022: “tDCS for COVID and Long-COVID” slides PDF
On Nov 11, 2022: “Neurovascular Modulation: A New Mechanistic Paradigm Linking Diverse Invasive and Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation Approaches.” slides PDF
On Nov 13, 2022: “Evoked Synaptic Excitatory Potentials (ESAPs): Origins and implications for Spinal Cord Stimulation”
Marom Bikson speaks on Nov, 1, 2022 to Gordon Center for Medical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital.
Slides PDF
New publication: “Direct current stimulation modulates gene expression in isolated astrocytes with implications for glia-mediated plasticity”. Limary M. Cancel, Dharia Silas, Marom Bikson & John M. Tarbell . Nature Scientific Reports. 12, Article number: 17964 (2022)
Journal link
Download PDF
Abstract: While the applications of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) across brain disease and cognition are diverse, they rely on changes in brain function outlasting stimulation. The cellular mechanisms of DCS leading to brain plasticity have been studied, but the role of astrocytes remains unaddressed. We previously predicted that during tDCS current is concentrated across the blood brain-barrier. This will amplify exposure of endothelial cells (ECs) that form blood vessels and of astrocytes that wrap around them. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of tDCS on the gene expression by astrocytes or ECs. DCS (0.1 or 1 mA, 10 min) was applied to monolayers of mouse brain ECs or human astrocytes. Gene expression of a set of neuroactive genes were measured using RT-qPCR. Expression was assessed immediately or 1 h after DCS. Because we previously showed that DCS can produce electroosmotic flow and fluid shear stress known to influence EC and astrocyte function, we compared three interventions: pressure-driven flow across the monolayer alone, pressure-driven flow plus DCS, and DCS alone with flow blocked. We show that DCS can directly modulate gene expression in astrocytes (notably FOS and BDNF), independent of but synergistic with pressure-driven flow gene expression. In ECs, pressure-driven flow activates genes expression with no evidence of further contribution from DCS. In ECs, DCS alone produced mixed effects including an upregulation of FGF9 and downregulation of NTF3. We propose a new adjunct mechanism for tDCS based on glial meditated plasticity.
Dr. Marom Bikson speaks at the The Fifth Bioelectronic Medicine Summit: October 11-12, 2022 on “Neuro-vascular modulation: How electrical stimulation activates vascular function and why it matters”. Vividha Bhaskar presents a poster “Evoked Synaptic Excitatory Potentials (ESAPs): A novel electrophysiological biomarker for Spinal Cord Stimulation”
Event details
Slides for Dr. Bikson’s presentation PDF
Prof. Marom Bikson speaks on Oct 4th as the Boston University Engineering the Brain for Discovery and Clinical Applications.. Full program
Bikson speaks on “Neurovascular-modulation and how a wearable brain stimulation might treat brain disorders from age-related cognitive decline to long-COVID”. Slides PDF
Newsy video featuring neuromodulation technology developed in the Bikson lab and used by NYU Langone. Sept 23, 2022.
“A very small group of just several hundred Americans is trying an at-home medical treatment involving electrical stimulation of part of the brain. Newsy's Jason Bellini speaks with one woman who is struggling with depression and trying the treatment”.
Watch the video here
Dr. Marom Bikson speaks on “Neurovascular Modulation” at the 32nd International Congress of Clinical Neurophysiology: ICCN 2022.
Slides: PDF
High-Definition transcranial Alternating Current (HD-tDCS) was invented by the Neural Engineering group at The City College of New York, and licensed to Soterix Medical as part of the High-Definition non-invasive brain stimulation platform.
A recent publication in Nature Neuroscience by Rob Reinhart of Boston University shows that HD-tACS can boost memory in older adults. The work has been features in news from MIT Tech Review (which interviewed Dr. Bikson), NBC, BBC , the Wall Street Journal, and others.
HD-tACS is the only technology capable of delivering sinusoidal waveform stimulation to targeted brain regions. Other technologies cannot do this, for example invasive (implanted) devices cannot safely deliver sinusoidal currents, non-invasive approaches like Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation cannot technically deliver sinusoidal fields, and tradition tACS is not focal. The unique capability of HD-tACS was critical to the targeted outcomes reported by Reinhart et al. study.
Two publications apply state-of-the-art computer driven device design to simulate the effects of advanced automatic massage beds on body / spinal wellbeing.
Cardoso, L., Khadka, N., Dmochowski, J. P., Meneses, E., Lee, K., Kim, S., Jin, Y., & Bikson, M. (2022). Computational modeling of posteroanterior lumbar traction by an automated massage bed: Predicting intervertebral disc stresses and deformation. Frontiers in Rehabilitation Sciences, 3. https://doi.org/10.3389/fresc.2022.931274 PDF
Dmochowski, J.P., Khadka, N., Cardoso, L., Meneses, E., Lee, K., Kim, S., Jin, Y., Bikson, M. (2022). Computational Modeling of Deep Tissue Heating by an Automatic Thermal Massage Bed: Predicting the Effects on Circulation. Frontiers in Medical Technology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmedt.2022.925554 PDF
Andrea Antal, Bruce Luber, Anna-Katharine Brem, Marom Bikson, Andre R Brunoni, Roi Cohen Kadosh, Veljko Dubljevic, Shirley Fecteau, Florinda Ferreri, Agnes Flöel, Mark Hallett, Roy H. Hamilton, Christoph S. Herrmann, Michal Lavidor, Collen Loo, Caroline Lustenberger, Sergio Machado, Carlo Miniussi, Vera Moliadze, Michael A Nitsche, Simone Rossi, Paolo M. Rossini, Emiliano Santarnecchi, Margitta Seeck, Gregor Thut, Zsolt Turi, Yoshikazu Ugawa, Ganesan Venkatasubramanian, Nicole Wenderoth, Anna Wexler, Ulf Ziemann, Walter Paulus,
Non-invasive brain stimulation and neuroenhancement
Clinical Neurophysiology Practice, 2022 ISSN 2467-981X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cnp.2022.05.002.
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2467981X2200021X)
Abstract: Attempts to enhance human memory and learning ability have a long tradition in science. This topic has recently gained substantial attention because of the increasing percentage of older individuals worldwide and the predicted rise of age-associated cognitive decline in brain functions. Transcranial brain stimulation methods, such as transcranial magnetic (TMS) and transcranial electric (tES) stimulation, have been extensively used in an effort to improve cognitive functions in humans. Here we summarize the available data on low-intensity tES for this purpose, in comparison to repetitive TMS and some pharmacological agents, such as caffeine and nicotine. There is no single area in the brain stimulation field in which only positive outcomes have been reported. For self-directed tES devices, how to restrict variability with regard to efficacy is an essential aspect of device design and function. As with any technique, reproducible outcomes depend on the equipment and how well this is matched to the experience and skill of the operator. For self-administered non-invasive brain stimulation, this requires device designs that rigorously incorporate human operator factors. The wide parameter space of non-invasive brain stimulation, including dose (e.g., duration, intensity (current density), number of repetitions), inclusion/exclusion (e.g., subject’s age), and homeostatic effects, administration of tasks before and during stimulation, and, most importantly, placebo or nocebo effects, have to be taken into account. The outcomes of stimulation are expected to depend on these parameters and should be strictly controlled. The consensus among experts is that low-intensity tES is safe as long as tested and accepted protocols (including, for example, dose, inclusion/exclusion) are followed and devices are used which follow established engineering risk-management procedures. Devices and protocols that allow stimulation outside these parameters cannot claim to be “safe” where they are applying stimulation beyond that examined in published studies that also investigated potential side effects. Brain stimulation devices marketed for consumer use are distinct from medical devices because they do not make medical claims and are therefore not necessarily subject to the same level of regulation as medical devices (i.e., by government agencies tasked with regulating medical devices). Manufacturers must follow ethical and best practices in marketing tES stimulators, including not misleading users by referencing effects from human trials using devices and protocols not similar to theirs.
Keywords: Neuroenhancement; Cognitive enhancement; Transcranial brain stimulation; tDCS; tACS; Home-stimulation; DIY stimulation
Erica Kreisberg earns a BS in Biomedical Engineering
Dr. Zeinab Esmaeilpour earns a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering
Dr. Gozde Unal earns a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering
Stance Phase Gait Training Post Stroke Using Simultaneous Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation and Motor Learning-Based Virtual Reality-Assisted Therapy: Protocol Development and Initial Testing
Ahlam Salameh , Jessica McCabe , Margaret Skelly , Kelsey Rose Duncan, Zhengyi Chen , Curtis Tatsuoka , Marom Bikson , Elizabeth C. Hardin , Janis J. Daly and Svetlana Pundik
Abstract: Gait deficits are often persistent after stroke, and current rehabilitation methods do not restore normal gait for everyone. Targeted methods of focused gait therapy that meet the individual needs of each stroke survivor are needed. Our objective was to develop and test a combination protocol of simultaneous brain stimulation and focused stance phase training for people with chronic stroke (>6 months). We combined Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) with targeted stance phase therapy using Virtual Reality (VR)-assisted treadmill training and overground practice. The training was guided by motor learning principles. Five users (>6 months post-stroke with stance phase gait deficits) completed 10 treatment sessions. Each session began with 30 min of VR-assisted treadmill training designed to apply motor learning (ML)-based stance phase targeted practice. During the first 15 min of the treadmill training, bihemispheric tDCS was simultaneously delivered. Immediately after, users completed 30 min of overground (ML)-based gait training. The outcomes included the feasibility of protocol administration, gait speed, Timed Up and Go (TUG), Functional Gait Assessment (FGA), paretic limb stance phase control capability, and the Fugl–Meyer for lower extremity coordination (FMLE). The changes in the outcome measures (except the assessments of stance phase control capability) were calculated as the difference from baseline. Statistically and clinically significant improvements were observed after 10 treatment sessions in gait speed (0.25 ± 0.11 m/s) and FGA (4.55 ± 3.08 points). Statistically significant improvements were observed in TUG (2.36 ± 3.81 s) and FMLE (4.08 ± 1.82 points). A 10-session intervention combining tDCS and ML-based task-specific gait rehabilitation was feasible and produced clinically meaningful improvements in lower limb function in people with chronic gait deficits after stroke. Because only five users tested the new protocol, the results cannot be generalized to the whole population. As a contribution to the field, we developed and tested a protocol combining brain stimulation and ML-based stance phase training for individuals with chronic stance phase deficits after stroke. The protocol was feasible to administer; statistically and/or clinically significant improvements in gait function across an array of gait performance measures were observed with this relatively short treatment protocol.
Congratulations to Abbe Pannuci, featured as a 2022 CCNY Great Grad, graduating with Bachelor of Science Degree in Biotechnology! Abbe worked in our lab in the engineering of our SafeToddle Toddler Cane! Best of luck in your future studies as a Physician Assistant!
Abbe Pannuci, 2022 CCNY Great Grad
When Abbe Pannucci was 10 years old, she was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer, a diagnosis that subjected her to two years of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. When she was 11 and a half, she earned her second-degree black belt in karate. At 12, she dedicated herself to the study of science “with the goal of contributing to research that helps minimize the severity of a cancer diagnosis for others.”
She credits the Macaulay Honors College for helping to launch her on that journey. After spending a summer interning at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases in Fort Detrick, Md., near her hometown, where she “got my hands on some real science,” she applied to City College. “I definitely knew I wanted to go to CCNY; it was just that I didn’t think I would get into the Macaulay Honors College when I applied” – but she did.
She has made the most of that decision, participating in clubs, acting as a peer mentor and orientation leader, and conducting research in the labs of Professor of Biomedical Engineering Marom Bikson and Dean of the Division of Science Susan Perkins, a biologist and her thesis advisor.
In addition to interning at Rockefeller University and Columbia University Medical Center, Pannucci volunteers as a patient advocate for Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, where she was treated, to help to improve the experience of current patients and to encourage new research in pediatric oncology.
Pannucci plans to spend the next year as an oncology laboratory technician before applying to the Physician’s Assistant Program at City College.
All of these experiences to date— and the ones yet to come—“help me give back to the community that helped me so much during my diagnosis,” she said.
Prof. Marom Bikson gives the keynote at the “Current Topics in Transcranial Electrical Stimulation Workshop” hosted by National Center of Neuromodulation for Rehabilitation at the Medical University of South Carolina. June 1 and 2, 2022.
Full program link Free in-person and Zoom,
Dr. Bikson will speak on June 1 , 2022 at 4 PM (ET) on “tES Technology: A difference to be a difference, must make a difference.” talk slides: PDF
( Additional talk materials: Program for the Third International Conference on Transcranial Magnetic and direct Current Stimulation held in Gottingen, Germany in 2008. And my slides from a talk at the conference in 2008).
Dr. Gozde Unal will also be speaking at the conference on June 2 on “Theoretical underpinnings of electrical field modelling.”
New paper in Brain Stimulation journal. “Efficacy and safety of HD-tDCS and respiratory rehabilitation for critically ill patients with COVID-19 The HD-RECOVERY randomized clinical trial”. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brs.2022.05.006
RCT of Non-invasive Brain Stimulation+ respiratory rehabilitation in 56 critically ill COVID-19 patients. HD-tDCS markedly reduces time on ventilator & organ failure of COVID-19 patients with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ADRS).
Including customization of High-Definition transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (HD-tDCS) for COVID-19 ICU. HD-tDCS provided targeted non-invasive neuromodulation in a battery-powered portable form factor.
We’er proud of our Neural Engineering lab members recognized at the City College of New York, Biomedical Engineering Department (BME) 2022 awards ceremony . The day also included the BME Senior Design presentations.
Cynthia Poon & Carli Canela: Wallace Coulter Award Undergrad Research Excellence.
Gozde Unal: Wallace Coulter Graduate Student Research.
Zeinab Esmaeilpour: Harold Shames Graduate Student Award
Vividha Bhaskar: Undergrad academics excellence.
Gozde Unal, a PhD candidate in the lab of Dr. Marom Bikson will defend her dissertation thesis on Friday, May 13, 2022 at 11am. A copy of her abstract is below. If you would like to attend, please contact Gozde at gunal000@citymail.cuny.edu for the Zoom meeting ID. The meeting is also taking place in person in the Center for Discovery & Innovation 3rd floor conference room (CDI 3.352)
Abstract
Improvements in electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) outcomes have followed refinement in device electrical output and electrode montage. The physical properties of the ECT stimulus, together with those of the patient’s head, determine the impedances measured by the device and govern current delivery to the brain and ECT outcomes. However, the precise relations among physical properties of the stimulus, patient head anatomy, and patient-specific impedance to the passage of current are long-standing questions in ECT research and practice. In this thesis, we develop a computational framework based on diverse clinical data sets. We developed anatomical MRI-derived models of transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) that included changes in tissue conductivity due to local electrical current flow. These “adaptive” models simulate ECT both during therapeutic stimulation using high current and when dynamic impedance is measured, as well as prior to stimulation when low current is used to measure static impedance. We modeled two scalp layers: a superficial scalp layer with adaptive conductivity that increases with electric field up to a subject-specific maximum (σSS̅̅̅̅), and a deep scalp layer with a subject-specific fixed conductivity (σDS). We demonstrated that variation in these scalp parameters may explain clinical data on subject-specific static impedance and dynamic impedance, their imperfect correlation across subjects, their relationships to seizure threshold, and the role of head anatomy. Adaptive tES models demonstrated that current flow changes local tissue conductivity which in turn shapes current delivery to the brain in a manner not accounted for in fixed tissue conductivity models. Our predictions that variation in individual skin properties, rather than other aspects of anatomy, largely govern the relationship between static impedance, dynamic impedance, and ECT current delivery to the brain, themselves depend on assumptions about tissue properties. Broadly, our novel modeling pipeline opens the door to explore how adaptive-scalp conductivity may impact transcutaneous electrical stimulation (tES). Lastly, we incorporate the (device specific) role of frequency with a single overall assumption allowing quasi-static stimulations of ECT: appropriately parametrizing effective resistivity at single representative frequency (e.g., at 1 kHz), including subject-specific and adaptive skin resistivities. We only stipulate that our functions for (adaptive) resistivity at 1 kHz explain local tissue resistivity as they impact the static and dynamic impedance measures by specific ECT devices (e.g., Thymatron).
