People

Faculty

Philip Troyk, PhD

Philip Troyk

Philip Troyk

Principal investigator

Associate Dean – Armour College of Engineering
Professor – Department of Biomedical Engineering

IIT Faculty Profile

  • PhD Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Chicago
  • MS Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Chicago
  • BS Electrical Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Sungjae Suh, PhD

Sungjae Suh

Sungjae Suh

Research associate

Dr. Suh’s research enables the development of implantable devices for the Intracortical Visual Prosthesis (ICVP) and packaging for other neural prosthesis. His current work focuses upon reliability assessment and failure analysis of implantable systems through environmental stress testing, to inform implanted life time prediction.

  • PhD Metallurgical & Materials Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology

Current members

Gayatri Kaskhedikar

Gayatri Kaskhedikar

Gayatri Kaskhedikar

Postdoctoral research associate

Gayatri’s current research is focused on the development of phosphene mapping techniques for cortical implant recipients under the guidance of Dr. Gislin Dagnelie at Johns Hopkins University. As a Masters’ student, she was a research assistant in the Neuro-rehab lab (Advisor, Dr. Walter Besio) and developed an EMG-electrode multiplexer for a FES system to be used in the rehabilitation of hemiplegic patients. She has also worked as a research technologist at the Martinos Imaging center in MGH, Boston.

  • PhD Biomedical Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology (2017)
  • MS Biomedical Engineering, Louisiana Tech University (2007)
  • BE Electronics and Instrumentation, University of Madras (2004)

Publications: [1] [2]

Omar Tawakol

Omar Tawakol

PhD candidate

Omar is interested in developing a stable wireless intraspinal microstimulation (ISMS) system as a means of restoring standing and stepping for individuals with spinal cord injury. As an undergraduate, Omar designed a high-speed surgical implantation device for the purpose of safely inserting microelectrode arrays in cortical tissue.

  • BS Biomedical Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology (2018)

Publications: [3]

Selected alumni

Samuel Bredeson

Sam Bredeson

Sam Bredeson

Thesis: Assessing the biological reaction to implantation of peripheral nerve electrode interface devices

As an undergraduate at Michigan Tech, Sam worked as a research assistant in the Biosensors Laboratory on projects involving sensors based on magnetoelastic materials. His graduate research was on the development and testing of implantable electrode systems for chronic use, particularly for peripheral nerve applications.

  • PhD Biomedical Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology (2018)
  • BS Biomedical Engineering, Michigan Technological University (2011)

Publications: [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Alexander Rush

Alex Rush

Alex Rush

Thesis: Getting Rid of the Wires: A Transcutaneous Power and Wideband Telemetry System for Multi-Channel Neural Recording Implants

Alexander’s ground-breaking research work involved the design of mixed-signal circuits and inductive links for neural prosthetic applications. In collaboration with engineers at Sigenics, Inc., he demonstrated his novel technology through the design and fabrication of an implantable wideband 16-channel neural sensing system for cortical neural recording.

  • PhD Biomedical Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology (2012)
  • BS Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2006)

Zhe Hu

Zhe Hu

Zhe Hu

Thesis: Characterization of AIROF Stimulating Microelectrodes

Hu’s novel research work, performed in collaboration with Dr. Stuart Cogan (formerly of EIC Laboratories, now at the University of Texas at Dallas) furthered the understanding of how to use Activated Iridium Oxide Film (AIROF) electrodes for neural stimulation. His work revealed the disparity between in-vitro and in-vivo charge injection capabilities of AIROF electrodes for cortical applications.

  • PhD Biomedical Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology (2008)

Nishant Srivastava

Thesis: First Generation Intracortical Visual Prosthesis Image Capture and Processing System

Nishant’s developmental research work produced a first generation image processing system for the Intracortical Visual Prothesis (ICVP) to process images captured by a camera and communicate with the implantable simulator. While performing experiments at Johns Hopkins University, under the guidance of Dr. Gislin Dagnelie, he reported some of the first results from psychophysical testing of sighted subjects to predict the performance of an ICVP system in an individual with blindness.

  • PhD Biomedical Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology (2007)
[1]
G. Kaskhedikar, L. Yang, T. Boucher, P. Troyk, and G. Dagnelie, “Development of Mapping Methods with Simulated Phosphenes for Implementation in Intracortical Visual Prosthesis Recipients,” Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, vol. 56, no. 7, p. 4315, Jun. 2015. [Source]
[2]
G. P. Kaskhedikar, Z. Hu, G. Dagnelie, and P. R. Troyk, “Proposed Intracortical vision prosthesis system for phosphene mapping and psychophysical studies,” 2013 6th International IEEE/EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering (NER). Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Nov-2013. [Source]
[3]
O. Tawakol, S. D. Bredeson, and P. R. Troyk, “Preparation of a neural electrode implantation device for in-vivo surgical use,” 2016 38th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC). Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Aug-2016. [Source]
[4]
S. Bredeson, A. Kanneganti, F. Deku, S. Cogan, M. Romero-Ortega, and P. Troyk, “Chronic in-vivo testing of a 16-channel implantable wireless neural stimulator.,” Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc, vol. 2015, pp. 1017–20, Aug. 2015. [PubMed]
[5]
P. Troyk et al., “In-vivo tests of a 16-channel implantable wireless neural stimulator,” 2015 7th International IEEE/EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering (NER). Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Apr-2015. [Source]
[6]
S. Bredeson and P. Troyk, “Device for the implantation of neural electrode arrays.,” Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc, vol. 2014, pp. 434–7, Jan. 2014. [PubMed]
[7]
S. D. Bredeson, P. R. Troyk, S. Suh, and M. Bak, “Investigation of long-term electrical degradation in neural recording and stimulation microelectrode arrays,” 2013 6th International IEEE/EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering (NER). Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Nov-2013. [Source]
[8]
S. Bredeson, P. Troyk, S. Suh, and M. Bak, “Identification and quantification of electrical leakage pathways in floating microelectrode arrays.,” Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc, vol. 2013, pp. 1542–5, Jan. 2013. [PubMed]