Magnetoelectric neural interfaces

Magnetoelectric nanoparticles promise a radically different kind of neural interface: injectable transducers that convert an externally applied magnetic field into local electric stimulation — no wires, no implanted electronics. Under DARPA N3 (the MeNTs effort), I worked with teams at Battelle, the University of Miami, and UC Irvine through Phase 2 on acute experiments in anesthetized NHPs, testing whether injected magnetoelectric nano-transducers could evoke neural and muscular responses.

My role centered on measurement discipline: building the synchronized stimulation/recording setups and evaluating whether apparent evoked responses were physiological or stimulation artifacts — and advocating for an honest interpretation of null results. The physics and projected technology pathway for nanoparticle-based wireless BCIs are laid out in our Advanced Science review.

Selected publications

• Zhang E, et al. (incl. Murphy M). Magnetoelectric Nanoparticle-Based Wireless Brain-Computer Interface: Underlying Physics and Projected Technology Pathway. Advanced Science.
• Zhang E, et al. Wireless magnetoelectric neural interfaces. IEEE INTERMAG, 2023.