Despite being less than six months into the European META-BRAIN project, the first collaborative experiments among several project partners have already started.
In late June, eight researchers from three META-BRAIN consortium partners met at IDIBAPS to conduct a series of crucial preliminary experiments. These experiments are pivotal to achieving several project milestones, including the successful implementation of closed-loop control, the effective injection and activation of nanostructures in the cortex, and early biocompatibility testing.
The experiments aimed to leverage the combined expertise of researchers from ETH Zurich and IDIBAPS to establish a new protocol for nanoparticle injection within cortical brain slices. The use of magnetoelectric nanoarchitectures is part of the innovative approach from META-BRAIN to controlling brain activity for therapeutic uses.
With coordination between the teams and support from Ciber, the researchers developed a successful strategy for precisely depositing nanoparticles into target sites along the cortex. They also gained insights into safe dosage limits and optimal dose composition for future experiments. Early trials indicated evidence of magnetoelectric neuromodulation in brain slices, suggesting a promising direction for the project’s future development.
Dr. Elric Zhang, Dr. Hao Ye, and Vitaly Pustovalov of ETH Zurich travelled from Switzerland to Barcelona to collaborate over several days with Dr. Antòn Guimerà from the Barcelona Institute of Microelectronics (part of partner Ciber), along with Nathalia Cancino, Joana Covelo, and Drs. Mavi Sanchez-Vives and Alex Suárez, representing the project coordinator, IDIBAPS.
