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HKU scholars and partner develop new optical brain imaging platform

Image Credits: HKU, Press Release

In an Associate Professor of Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Programme Director of Biomedical Engineering Programme at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), along with University of California Berkeley (UC Berkeley), was awarded a funding of over US$2 million from the BRAIN Initiative Fund of the US National Institutes of Health for a project to develop a high-speed optical imaging technology for recording fast neural activity throughout the living animal brain.

Announced by the Obama administration in 2013, the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN)® Initiative supports research to develop and to use extraordinary new technologies that will revolutionise our understanding of the brain.

To guide the BRAIN Initiative effort, NIH established a framework in 2014 that outlined several areas of high priority for research funding opportunities. One focused area, in particular, is “The brain in action”, i.e. to record a dynamic picture of the functioning brain by developing new methods for large-scale monitoring of neural activity.

At the fundamental level, the brain consists of astonishingly complex networks of neurons that are wired together with (synaptic) connections to form what we called neural circuits. In the outer part of the human brain (cerebral cortex) only, there are an estimated 10-20 billions of neurons.

Different neurons could show different electrical and chemical activities flowing within these circuits – giving rise to all sorts of different sources of behaviours, e.g. our emotions, perceptions, thoughts, actions, and memories. Therefore, recording signals representing neuronal activities could provide fundamental clues to understand brain functions and more importantly, brain diseases or degeneration.

The classical method is to direct electrical signal readout using electrodes/microelectrodes that are put physically in contact with the brain tissue. It has been the workhorse in neuroscience research to study electrophysiology, yet there are limitations in recording resolution and invasiveness.

While this technology continues to improve, optical imaging methods stand out and have revolutionised the field of neuroscience in the past decade. It remains a grand challenge in optical imaging to systematically capture and monitor the motion pictures of these fast neuronal dynamics non-invasively and with single-neuron precision.

The funded NIH project, led by two professors at the Department of Physics of UC Berkeley, aims to develop a new type of optical brain imaging platform based one of the professor’s recent invention of an ultrafast laser-scanning imaging technique called FACED.

The FACED technique can achieve at least 100 times faster in laser-scanning rate by using a pair of parallel mirrors (infinity mirror) to create an ultrafast sweeping laser beam and can overcome the use of mechanical scanning mirrors and its speed limitation.

It was noted that available optical imaging technologies run short of speed to capture the inherently fast electrical neuronal activities (voltage signals), typically varying in milliseconds or shorter. The ultrafast laser-scanning capability brought by the FACED technique could address the speed challenge in brain imaging.

Together with UC Berkeley, the research team will leverage on the advanced technique in chemistry and genetics and convert the electrical and chemical activities of individual neurons into light signals which can be easily detected by the optical imaging systems.

Moreover, they will combine FACED technique with the emerging brain imaging modalities (namely multi-photon imaging) and recent advances in computational sciences to achieve in vivo imaging of neural activities, particularly the voltage activity, throughout the living brain at a frame rate beyond 1,000 frames per second.

This is the capability otherwise missing in the current brain imaging technologies.

A platform prototype is expected to be established in the coming 3 years and will be employed to augment the capability of current neuroscience technologies and catalyse innovative neuroscience breakthroughs.

PARTNER

Qlik’s vision is a data-literate world, where everyone can use data and analytics to improve decision-making and solve their most challenging problems. A private company, Qlik offers real-time data integration and analytics solutions, powered by Qlik Cloud, to close the gaps between data, insights and action. By transforming data into Active Intelligence, businesses can drive better decisions, improve revenue and profitability, and optimize customer relationships. Qlik serves more than 38,000 active customers in over 100 countries.

PARTNER

CTC Global Singapore, a premier end-to-end IT solutions provider, is a fully owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and ITOCHU Corporation.

Since 1972, CTC has established itself as one of the country’s top IT solutions providers. With 50 years of experience, headed by an experienced management team and staffed by over 200 qualified IT professionals, we support organizations with integrated IT solutions expertise in Autonomous IT, Cyber Security, Digital Transformation, Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure, Workplace Modernization and Professional Services.

Well-known for our strengths in system integration and consultation, CTC Global proves to be the preferred IT outsourcing destination for organizations all over Singapore today.

PARTNER

Planview has one mission: to build the future of connected work. Our solutions enable organizations to connect the business from ideas to impact, empowering companies to accelerate the achievement of what matters most. Planview’s full spectrum of Portfolio Management and Work Management solutions creates an organizational focus on the strategic outcomes that matter and empowers teams to deliver their best work, no matter how they work. The comprehensive Planview platform and enterprise success model enables customers to deliver innovative, competitive products, services, and customer experiences. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with locations around the world, Planview has more than 1,300 employees supporting 4,500 customers and 2.6 million users worldwide. For more information, visit www.planview.com.

SUPPORTING ORGANISATION

SIRIM is a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia, wholly-owned by the Minister​ of Finance Incorporated. With over forty years of experience and expertise, SIRIM is mandated as the machinery for research and technology development, and the national champion of quality. SIRIM has always played a major role in the development of the country’s private sector. By tapping into our expertise and knowledge base, we focus on developing new technologies and improvements in the manufacturing, technology and services sectors. We nurture Small Medium Enterprises (SME) growth with solutions for technology penetration and upgrading, making it an ideal technology partner for SMEs.

PARTNER

HashiCorp provides infrastructure automation software for multi-cloud environments, enabling enterprises to unlock a common cloud operating model to provision, secure, connect, and run any application on any infrastructure. HashiCorp tools allow organizations to deliver applications faster by helping enterprises transition from manual processes and ITIL practices to self-service automation and DevOps practices. 

PARTNER

IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

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