Purdue University researchers have developed new miniature devices designed to be implanted in the brain to predict and prevent epileptic seizures and a nanotech sensor for implantation in the eye to treat glaucoma.

One research project focuses on a tiny transmitter three times the width of a human hair to be implanted below the scalp to detect the signs of an epileptic seizure before it occurs.

This project is part of a larger collaboration at Purdue focusing on creating a neuroprosthesis that dispenses a neurotransmitter once the onset of a seizure is detected.

Assistant professor Jenna Rickus has developed a “living electrode” coated with specially engineered neurons that, when stimulated, releases the neurotransmitter to inhibit the seizure. The engineered neurons are living tissue stimulated with a microchip.

Another biomedical engineering project at Purdue involves the development of a sensor to be implanted in the eye to monitor glaucoma by measuring pressure in the eye’s interior.