nanoLAB

Staff Profile

Professor Patrick Degenaar

Professor of Neuroprosthetics

Background

Introduction

I came to Newcastle in 2010 to develop world class collaborations between Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Newcastle University and the Institute of Neuroscience. I have a BSc (1st class) and MRes in Applied Physics from Liverpool University, and a PhD in Bioimaging from the Japan Advanced Institute for Science and Technology. After some time in the software industry, I did two post-doctoral projects at Imperial College before getting an RCUK fellowship in 2005. From 2005-2010 I was a lecturer and then senior lecturer at Imperial College, before coming to Newcastle, where I was promoted to reader, and then to full professor in 2019.

At the heart of my research is the pioneering use of CMOS-micro-LED optoelectronics in combination with optogenetic gene therapy solutions. These will lead to highly advanced forms of prosthetic intervention not previously possible. This has led to a number of highly cited papers in key biomedical engineering journals. Furthermore I have explored impact through patient trials and commercial translation.

To achieve my aims I have been part of a number of large research consortia. Between 2010-2014 I coordinated the FP7 OptoNeuro project. More recently I am the engineering team leader on the £10M CANDO project to develop a next-generation prosthesis for epilepsy. Currently I have a large highly dedicated team of RAs, and PhD students.

My research page can be found here:

https://www.neuroprosthesislab.org/ 

My google scholar profile can be found here, and my Scopus details can be found here

Qualifications

Certificate of Teaching and Learning - Imperial College, UK
PhD Bioelectronics and bioimaging - JAIST, Japan
MRes Surface Science - Liverpool University, UK
BSc Applied Physics (1st Class) - Liverpool University, UK

Previous Positions

2009-2010 Senior Lecturer in Neurobionics - Imperial College, London
2005-2009 Lecturer in Neurobionics - Imperial College, London
2002-2005 Post-doc - Imperial College, London
2001-2001 Software Engineer, Network Associates, Amsterdam

Memberships

IEEE, IOP, ARVO, SPIE, BioCAS

Languages

English, Dutch, Japanese

Research

I am a member of the microsystems research group and my google scholar profile can be found here

Full details of my research can be found in my research page http://research.ncl.ac.uk/neuroprosthesis/ 

My core area of interest is in neuroprosthetic systems to help people with disabilities. For many years I have been working on retinal prosthesis. More recently, I have become interested in brain implants; visual cortical prosthesis and epileptic pacemakers. At the heart of these efforts is my pioneering use of CMOS-micro-LED optoelectronics in combination with optogenetic gene therapy solutions. 

Optogenetics is a gene therapy which can make specific neural cells in the body sensitive to particular wavelengths of light. This technique has been developed since its discovery in 2003 and is now nearing the point of the first human trials. To achieve full prosthetic control requires advanced optoelectronics which are being developed in this lab and in others.

Optogenetic epilepsy pacemaker

I am the engineering team leader of the flagship CANDO project to develop a new form of brain pacemaker to prevent seizure in patients with severe focal epilepsy. 

Visual prosthesis

I previously coordinated the FP7 OptoNeuro project to develop retinal prosthesis to bring back sight for those with Retinitis Pigmentosa. I am now interested in taking this research further to develop brain level prosthetics for those with glaucoma, trauma and other forms of full sight loss. 

Augmented vision

The same front end visual processing technology for visual prosthesis has applications in advanced visual aids for those with particle vision loss. I have been developing these devices and trials thereof at the Oxford and Western Eye(London) Hospitals.

Neuroinspired electronics

In the development of neural processing architectures for neuroprosthetic intervention, it is with exploring the methodologies already used in nature. When adapted to the silicon processing environment some of these neuromorphic techniques can be power efficient.

Research Staff

  • Dr Reza Ramezani
  • Dr Fahimeh Dekhoda
  • Dr Jun Luo
  • Dr Ahmed Soltan
  • Mr Dimtiris Firfilionis

Postgraduate Supervision

  • Nabeel Fattah
  • Hubin Zhao
  • Kaung Oo Htet
  • Lijuan Zhang
  • Ali Alameer
  • Ghazal Ghazai
  • Zi Choong
  • Austin Ogweno
  • Violet Rasool
  • Xuanli Zhu

External visitors/visiting PhD students

  • Mr Na Dong - South East University, China
  • Mr Abram Williams - Helwan University Egypt
  • Dr Walid Al Atabany - Helwan University, Egypt

Alumni

Dr Rolando Berlinguer-Palmini, [Imperial College pre - Sept 2010]: Muthu Murugeson (RA), Nahed Solouma (visiting fellow), Hwa Jeong Kim (visiting fellow), Muhammed Memon (visiting fellow), Brian McgGovern (RA), Nir Grossman(PhD & RA), Dr Soumyasanta Laha, Tassanai Parritokkoporn (PhD), Dr John Barrett (PhD), Dr Musa Al Yaman (PhD), Graeme Coapes (PhD)

Funding







Teaching

Undergraduate Teaching

  • MMB8019 - Sensory Systems and Neuroimaging
  • EEE2014 - Semiconductor Devices and Enalog Electronics
  • EEE2016 - Analog Electronics 

Postgraduate Teaching

if you have questions regarding my teaching, please contact me through Canvas or email me.

Undergraduate/MSc project supervision

Each year, I take on a number of different project students on the following programs:

3rd/4th year undergraduate programs in electronics, or physics

MSc in Embedded systems or Microelectronics

MSc in Biomedical Engineering

Projects vary each year and are listed in the handbook. They include implantable bioelectronics, biomedical telemetry, biomedical circuits, and algorithms for closed-loop processing. But I'm very keen on students defining their own projects as long as they are biomedical related.

Postgraduate Supervision

Each year I take on up to three talented individuals as PhD students. Funding for home students is via school DTA or Faculty DTA. Funding for overseas students is either through their own funds/scholarships, NUORS, or faculty DTA.  Please email me if you are interested.

Publications