Speaker: Dr Alex Casson

Time and Date: 14:00-15:00 pm, October 16, 2018

Place: Room 206 of Genetics Building, Handan Campus, Fudan University

Abstract:

This talk will overview three areas of the Casson lab’s work, and the unique healthcare landscape that is emerging in Manchester in the UK, for creating non-invasive bioelectronic sensor devices that make a step change in overcoming these limitations. In particular the talk will highlight our capabilities in:
A.   Making ‘conformal’ electrodes, Fig. 1, which attach directly to the skin and so intrinsically obtain very high quality signal connections. Importantly, manufacturing these using inkjet printing, enabling ‘closed-loop’ design where the electrode can be tailored to each individual person to improve performance. 
B.   Demonstrating targeted sound stimulation played during sleep as a non-pharmacological intervention for slowing the trajectory to mild cognitive impairment, as first case study to using wearables to automatically deliver targeted data responsive treatments.   
C.   Integrating sensor data with electronic health records to enable dynamic personalised care planning, which is a current work in progress.

As the lead example I will present our recent work on wearable EEG, making units quicker and easier to set up, longer lasting, and more robust to artifacts, with more functionality. This part will focus firstly on EEG electrodes, demonstrating 3D printed electrodes which can be made on-the-fly and personalized to each different user for better penetration through the hair. I will also show conformal/temporary tattoo electrodes for multi-day prolonged recordings. Unlike other approaches, our electrodes inkjet printed, potentially allowing real-time personalization and natural biodegradation by using Graphene actuated inks. Secondly, the talk will present our work on signal processing in-the-loop EEG front-ends, particularly for enabling in-band real-time impedance monitoring, and the use of EEG devices in real-motion situations. The overall aim in the presentation is to be very forwards looking: We have recently created an internal roadmap for our EEG unit work which will create a range of features that make EEG systems look very different to the ones available today. We aim to share some of our vision for this work.

Biography:

Dr Alex Casson is a Reader (Associate Professor) in the Materials, Devices and Systems division of the school of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Manchester. His research focuses on non-invasive bioelectronics interfaces: the design and application of wearable sensors, and 'conformal sensors', for human body monitoring and data analysis from highly artefact prone naturalistic situations. This work is highly multi-disciplinary and he has research expertise in:
•    Ultra low power microelectronic circuit design (at the discrete and fully custom microchip levels).
•    Sensor signal processing for power constrained motion artefact rich environments.
•    Personalised device manufacture using 3D printing and inkjet printing.
He has particular interests in precision devices for closed loop bioelectronic interventions: those which are tailored to the individual by personalised manufacturing via printing; and tailored interventions by adjusting treatments using data driven responses/outputs from real-time signal processing. Dr Casson’s ultra low power sensors work is mainly for medical applications, with a strong background in EEG and transcranial current stimulation. These applications focus on both mental health situations including epilepsy, sleep disorders, stroke, Parkinson's disease and autism, and physical health/rehabilitation applications including diabetic foot ulceration.
Dr Casson gained his undergraduate degree from the University of Oxford in 2006 where he read Engineering Science specialising in Electronic Engineering (MEng). He completed his PhD from Imperial College London in 2010, winning the prize for best doctoral thesis in electrical and electronic engineering. Dr Casson worked as a research associate and research fellow at Imperial College until 2013 when he joined the faculty at the University of Manchester. He is good clinical practice certified and is a site miner for the Manchester Integrating Medicine and Innovative Technology (MIMIT) scheme for systematically connecting clinicians and engineers to address unmet clinical needs. Dr Casson is currently a Senior Member of the IEEE, Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and vice-chair of the Institution of Engineering and Technology’s healthcare technologies network.