Hokkaido University, in collaboration with the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, and Neuroceuticals Inc., has been selected for the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization's (NEDO) Leading Research Program/Frontier Development Project for its research and development project, "Research and Development of Innovative Sympathetic Nervous System Activity Measurement Technology Using Representation Learning and Multi-Point Sheet Electrodes Attached to the Neck," and will commence research and development.

 

The autonomic nervous system is a fundamental control system for maintaining life, automatically regulating the functions of internal organs such as the heart, blood vessels, and digestive system, and is closely related to sleep/wake cycles, stress, and emotions. It consists of two types: the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. The sympathetic nervous system, in particular, becomes active during physical and mental activity and stress, and its abnormal hyperactivity or dysfunction is known to be related to a variety of diseases and symptoms, including high blood pressure, arrhythmias, heart failure, and mental illness. However, currently, there is no sufficiently established technology to non-invasively and continuously evaluate sympathetic nervous system activity from the body surface.

 

This research and development project directly tackles the uncharted challenge of non-invasive evaluation of sympathetic nervous system activity. The ability to continuously monitor sympathetic nervous system activity non-invasively is expected to have a novel impact, not only in medical and healthcare applications for detecting early disease changes, but also in neuroscience research aimed at elucidating the interaction between brain and bodily physiology. This research and development project focuses on the stellate ganglion, a major relay point in the visceral sympathetic nervous system, and aims to build a world-first non-invasive SNA measurement platform by developing and integrating proprietary technologies.

 

  • Project Name: NEDO Leading Research Program / Frontier Development Project
  • Challenge: Challenge 4: Brain technology/neurotechnology to realize the recovery and expansion of brain and nerve function and human-machine collaboration / Advancement of non-invasive measurement of brain and nerve activity and its application
  • Theme: Research and development of innovative sympathetic nerve activity measurement technology using expression learning and multi-point sheet electrodes attached to the neck.
  • Representative organization: Hokkaido University (Electronic Science Research Institute), a national university corporation.
  • Representative researcher: Koichi Fujiwara, Professor, Institute of Electronic Science, Hokkaido University

 

Please check this out for details. *You will be redirected to the Hokkaido University core website.