CATRIN will join the Week of the Brain

The second week of March has been dedicated to the latest discoveries in brain research, alongside tips on how to care about it and what to avoid. This festival of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic will also be joined by CATRIN, Palacký University. As part of it, on Friday, March 15, Kateřina Poláková is going to deliver an online lecture entitled Minigraph—new generation of graphene-based neurostimulators for targeted, sensitive and safe treatment of brain disorders with a focus on Parkinson’s disease.

The lecture will tackle the development and validation of a new generation of brain implants with closed-loop capabilities that are enabled by a scull implanted flexible electronics unit to gently stimulate the nerve activity of the brain. Such a strategy may allow treating or improving the conditions of certain neurological diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease. These are the goals of the international project Minigraph EIC Pathfinder, in which the team from CATRIN is involved. Miniature electrodes with a graphene-carbon material with extraordinary properties play an important role in the whole system. More information including the link for access is to be found here.

Since last year, another project with the acronym MINIGRAPH2 has been a separate part of the European Innovation Council MINIGRAPH project, which is coordinated by the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2) in Barcelona. The task of Olomouc scientists is to verify the sensitivity of graphene implants to living cells, or to propose a solution without adverse effects.