The Russian Science Foundation has offered a $1.4 million (108 million rubles) grant to Professor Mikhail Lebedev of Duke University, North Carolina, for his idea to develop invasive and non-invasive corticospinal and peripheral interfaces using biomarker monitoring for to rehabilitate motor functions and pain control.
The $1.4 million grant is for a period of four years with the possibility for an extension. According to the Russian Science Foundation website, the competition in which Professor Lebedev participated took place in the framework of an event titled, “Conducting Research at World-Class Laboratories in the Framework of Implementing the Science-Technology Development of the Russian Federation,” part of the Presidential Program for Research Projects Implemented by Leading Scientists.
In accordance with the competition conditions, the grant is being co-financed by an industrial partner and Skolkovo company Motorika.
Professor Lebedev has an impressive career behind him, first as a phystech graduate and then thirty years at leading science centers in the United States and Italy. He is also a full professor at the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech), Skolkovo Innovation Center’s science and tech institute. Over the last decade and a half, he has worked at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, where he conducted unique experiments on monkeys; these were further supported with a large grant from the Higher School of Economics.
Professor Mikhail Lebedev. Photo source: Private album.
Professor Lebedev commented in a recent media interview that Elon Musk’s Neuralink company implanted a chip into a monkey brain, allowing the primate to play computer games. He believes that the development of neurological treatment methods, including chip implants, will be able to compete with tablets in the near future. The fact that Professor Lebedev is discussing this very topic shows his intention to be a part of the process to develop such technologies. Now all the talk is on the adoption of neurological methods for treating diseases that are currently considered untreatable.
Professor Lebedev’s activities within Russia are well known domestically, especially with regards to his activities and involvement in the Skolkovo Innovation Center project. He actively collaborated with one of the innovation center’s companies, ExoAtlet, his laboratory having developed the interface to control the steps of an exoskeleton created by the company.
Internationally, however, the story of his work on monkeys goes back to 2003, when Professor Lebedev headed an experiment at Duke University, in which he and his team implanted electrodes into a monkey’s brain, allowing it to control a robot remotely through its own movements. For example, the monkey would raise its arm and the robot would do the same and grab a virtual object. The next big experiment was with a treadmill; the monkey walked on the treadmill and the scientists transmitted its steps onto a computer. They then linked the animal up to a robot that was located in Japan. While the monkey walked in America, its brain activities alone forced the robot to mimic the primate's movements in Japan. The experiment has many practical applications, one of which is already going into projects related to exoskeleton control.
To cap it all, Professor Lebedev and his team also found that the monkey didn’t just control the robot’s hand remotely, but could also feel with it. Before the primate moved the robot’s hand, it felt nothing until the moment that the hand grabbed the virtual object.
“We created a brain-machine-brain interface,” said Professor Lebedev. “The monkey moved a virtual hand and the virtual hand reached for virtual objects, during which time we stimulated the somatosensory cortex, trigging a sense of touch. The monkey learned to touch objects and feel vibration that was actually brought about by cortical stimulation. We then got closer to reality: the monkey ran its finger across a virtual object and could feel its texture. This also worked. It was ready to be used on a human.”
During this new stage of the experiment, which was conducted at the Higher School of Economics, Professor Lebedev himself was the subject, although the stimulation this time wasn’t in the brain, but the skin. Apart from that one difference, the monkey experiment was completely replicated. The subject ran a finger across a virtual grid square and, depending on its density, felt stimulation. The task aimed to test one grid square and then another and to compare the texture of the two. The test was successful for a number of reasons: Firstly, the experiment was conducted on a person; secondly, it reproduced an active paradigm in the search for tactile objects; thirdly, the experiment offers many applications, such as for prosthetics.
“We are now actively developing interfaces where by stimulating the nerves, skin, and even the brain cortex, sensitivity is being restored,” he stated.
“Our mission is to become a leader in developments in the field of neurobiology and medical applications.”
Regarding the RSF grant, Professor Lebedev stated that, “The result of fulfilling the project will be the first developed invasive and non-invasive corticospinal and peripheral interfaces for neurorehabilitation of the motor functions and pain control, using biomarker monitoring, a system that combines neurointerface technologies (based on motor imagination and P300) with transdermal stimulation of the spinal cord and stimulation of the peripheral nerves. This grant is needed to apply therapy for patients with spinal cord injuries, including stroke patients, and the idea is to trigger spinal cord stimulation via the interface. We plan to try it out in several clinics in Samara, Moscow, and St. Petersburg.”
The results of the experiments can be judged using biomarker monitoring. Molecular biologists of Skoltech’s Center for Neurobiology and Brain Restoration (CNBR) are actively involved and the work supported by the grant will be conducted by Professor Philipp Khaitovich. “We propose not just to treat patients with stimulation, but also to take molecular analyses from them and to attempt to objectively gauge their treatment,” said Professor Lebedev.
Ultimately, this is what Skoltech’s CNBR was created for. “Our mission is to become a leader in developments in the field of neurobiology and medical applications,” said Professor Lebedev. “There are so many applications, because millions of people suffer from injuries and brain diseases, many of which are untreatable. Spinal injuries, in particular, are still incurable today. Patients are supported, but they cannot be cured. The neurointerface promises to be able to cure such patients.”