Tilles-Weidenthal Professor, School of Medicine, Department of Biomedical Engineering
Case Western Reserve University
My special expertise resides in the theoretical, experimental, and clinical evaluation of neuromodulation and neurorecording technologies. My research program is focused on deep brain stimulation (DBS) and the design of novel techniques to improve its clinical application. Our primary research methods focus on coupling computational modeling with experimental measurement in neuromodulation models and human neuromodulation patients. We pioneered the concept of subject-specific DBS modeling and made our most important scientific contributions by blending finite element electric field models of DBS with high resolution MRI data. This led us to the creation of academic software technology for modeling the effects of DBS on individual patients, which was commercialized under the name GUIDE DBS by IntElect Medical Inc., which was acquired by Boston Scientific Neuromodulation Corp. in 2011 in one of largest financial transactions for neuromodulation technology of the last decade. GUIDE DBS now has CE Mark approval in Europe for the customization of DBS parameter settings to patients and was a Gold Award Winner in the 2014 Medical Design Excellence Awards. The concepts of GUIDE represent direct applications of integrative “Big Data” computational modeling into actual clinical neurology/neurosurgery practice and our current research efforts are focused on building upon that translational pipeline. In addition to electrical stimulation modeling, the laboratory also maintains an active research effort on understanding the effects of optogenetic stimulation, as well as studying the biophysics of neural signals recorded by implanted electrodes.
