NEUROBOT

ARIA Precision Neurotechnologies, 2025-26 (~£1M)

KEY STAFF AND PROJECT TEAM

meLAB / University of Glasgow

Prof. Hadi Heidari was PI on this project, with Dr Mahdieh Shojaei Baginini serving as de facto Co-Investigator. Dr Dibyajyoti Mukherjee contributed as a Research Associate while current meLAB PhD students Dayhim Nekoeian served as Research Assistant and Project Intern, respectively. Angel Canal Alonso was instrumental in the success of the initial proposal, while Dr Kathleen Menzies served as Research Project Manager.

Project partners

Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), University of Exeter, University of Manchester, NEUROBITE, Newcastle University.

NOTE: this exploratory and ‘high-risk’ project was live for one year, and closed in August 2026, having produced promising results and technological innovations that will be advanced and suitably protected for future exploitation. A good relationship with ARIA was established by the project team via the project’s unique reporting structure and participatory ‘hands-on’ ecosystem. Our aim is to work together again in the future, as ARIA’s programme objectives and opportunity spaces continue to evolve.

PROJECT SUMMARY AND OVERVIEW

Problem statement: Traditional Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) often causes informational lesions, disrupting normal brain function and leading to adverse side effects. To address this, our project proposes using biomimetically generated signals based on hippocampal activity patterns, which can reduce these side effects while providing more effective seizure control.

It is now widely recognized that many pathological brain conditions are directly associated with abnormal electrical activity, manifesting in both ictal events (e.g., epileptic seizures, panic disorder, or psychotic episodes) and chronic neurodegeneration (e.g., Parkinson’s disease, sensory disorders, traumatic brain injury, or Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias). Immediate recognition and response are crucial to initiate periodic and adaptive treatments. However, current technologies for precisely and selectively modulating brain activity for therapeutic purposes are severely limited, significantly restricting treatment options. Neurostimulation remains entrenched in a “one-size-fits-all” approach. Recent advances in nanotechnology, combined with new biocompatible interfaces, offer access to entirely novel neuromodulation paradigms. These advancements can dramatically reduce invasiveness.

Our project aims to develop next-generation neurostimulation devices, including precise closed-loop monitoring and steering of spatiotemporal stimulation patterns tailored to patient-specific functional idiosyncrasies. This innovation has the potential to unlock precision neurotech paradigms, playing a pivotal role in the predictive management of brain diseases.

NEUROBOT solution: The project aims to advance the field of closed-loop neuromodulation for epilepsy treatment by leveraging reservoir computing (RC) algorithms to control brain states through biomimetically generated signals coupled with microbots to ensure precise detection of the signals at a network level and microbots to control the delivery of electrical stimuli in a precise way. In conjunction with this, the NEUROBOT platform will also incorporate drug delivery mechanisms which will be integrated onto the microbots through bioactive coatings and encapsulants. This innovative approach focuses on precision neuromodulation to mitigate side effects and improve therapeutic outcomes for patients with epilepsy. Current therapies, e.g. NeuroPace RNS or percept, are closed-loop bioelectronic interventions that lack “precision”, and the need for closed-loop neuromodulation in epilepsy is critical due to the complex and dynamic nature of seizures.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

NEUROBOT project foresees 5 Technical Objectives (TObj): TObj1) Develop advanced functional materials for interfacing neurons, aiming at temporally and spatially precise neurostimulation by novel physical and chemical principles. TObj2) Implement a polymer carrier matrix to accommodate the functional materials and active molecules. TObj3) Design and microfabricate the device platform (microbot [100 μm diameter] and external controller), integrating multiple nanoactuators with all other elements of the NEUROBOT device. TObj4) Design and nanofabricate a novel AI-based controller able to wirelessly exchange information among implanted microbots and orchestrate stimulation by multiple physical modalities. TObj5) Multilevel optimization and demonstration of the NEUROBOT platform in brain organoids, rodents, and non-human primate (NHP) models for epileptic seizures and explore future clinical translation.

In addition to this TObjs, we also aim to be able to effectively control the transitions between brain states, aligning also with technical program goals from ARIA Technical Area 2 (TA2), thus we expect to be able to transition to TA2 after year 2 as detailed in the Work Plan. NEUROBOT centres its technological revolution on converging novel nano-actuation modalities, bleeding-edge nano-electronics, miniaturized wireless energy harvesting and communication and cutting-edge signal processing algorithms. Combining microscale devices with advanced nanomaterials featuring tailored physical properties, biocompatible coatings, and material modifications to prevent glial scarring, NEUROBOT will enable individualized, adaptive and highly spatiotemporally localized actuation with minimal invasiveness. It will leverage sensing electric local field potentials, multiunit activity from neurons, and electrical neurostimulation (in V3) of neuronal excitability with a central intelligent module (TObj1).

The NEUROBOT vision as visualised in Fig. 1 comprises a swarm of wireless, implantable, MRI-compatible “microbots” (100 μm diameter) for intracranial implantation and a central controller circuit for signal processing and generating the stimulation signals. These will enable in vivo electrophysiology and closed-loop neuromodulation at the cell- and microcircuit levels, in freely moving rodents and NHPs. Importantly, NEUROBOT will focus on distributed electrical recording and stimulation principles for the modulation of nerve cell excitability (TObj2). The “microbots” will feature either sensing or actuation electrodes, engineered with nanomaterials and bioactive coatings. They will be implanted intracranially, deliver biomimetical stimulation signals upon command, and operate in a federation under the networked control and wireless power supply by a tiny central unit (TObj4). NEUROBOT will deliver autonomous, closed-loop sensing, prediction, and actuation by combining neuromodulation mechanisms, which will act synergistically and dynamically to optimally shape the neural stimulus according to individual neuronal firing patterns and network level dynamics. As case studies, we will explore NEUROBOT action in animal models (rats and NHPs) of temporal lobe epilepsy (TObj5).

NEWS AND UPDATES

The project completed its first year in April-May 2026, with solid progress on all deliverables, including: antenna fabrication and protocols, CMOS design, early work on testing of the neurobot protoypes for biocompatibility, and the consideration of strategies for implantation. Plans for ‘translation’ and for ensuring end-product compliance were explored and discussed with domain experts. The project team attended and presented at in person workshops as part of the ARIA Neuroprecision Technologies Opportunity Space, in early 2026. A productive and useful in person meeting between partners took place in Glasgow in May 2026, alongside a positive ‘creator site visit’ from ARIA, where the project and its direction were scrutinised and discussed. NEUROBOT’s reseracher team, including PDRAs and PhD students, successfully demonstrated their progress and impressed our visitors, with contributions from other stakeholders (James Watt Nanofabrication Centre) adding value to the meetings.

The project was however subsequently closed, for several reasons, in agreement with ARIA. A good relationship remains. The advances in technology, design, and our understanding of neurotechnological challenges, which the project directly addressed, will be taken forward by the project partners both independently, and collaboratively.