Grant Details

The DARPA ElectRx program seeks innovative research proposals to develop biological science and technology capabilities for creating feedback-controlled (i.e. closed-loop) neuromodulation systems that achieve therapeutic benefits by regulating peripheral neural circuits. ElectRx will support fundamental biological research aimed at elucidating the anatomy and physiology of neural circuits mediating health status. These studies will identify actionable peripheral targets and inform the design of advanced technologies for neural interfacing and biosensing. These foundational efforts will culminate with in vivo demonstrations of feedback-controlled neuromodulation to treat individual medical conditions ranging from inflammatory disease to mental health disorders. In parallel, technology development focused on next-generation neural interfaces and biosensors will target capabilities that enable interaction with the neurophysiology of interest at unmatched spatiotemporal resolution, precision, and specificity. These neuromodulation treatments will ultimately be tuned automatically and continuously to the unique physiology of each individual and produce no off-target effects.

General scientific and technical goals of the ElectRx program include:

• Significantly advance understanding of neurophysiological circuits that monitor and regulate health status to enable novel treatments for inflammatory diseases and mental health disorders.
• Create novel bio-interface technologies required to study, elucidate, and modulate neural circuits and physiological state (i.e. neural interfaces and in vivo biosensors).
• Integrate neurobiological knowledge and bio-interface technologies into feedback-controlled neuromodulation systems capable of disease intervention and health restoration.

In order to achieve the scientific and technical goals of the ElectRx program, the following elements will be required:

• Functional maps of neural circuitry: Elucidate the anatomy and physiology of neuromodulatory circuits implicated in disease and therapeutic interventions.
• Physiological state determination: Define and characterize physiological health status based on, e.g., relative biomolecular concentrations and kinetics, afferent and efferent nerve signals, or other biomarkers associated with health and disease-related pathways.
• In vivo biosensors: Develop physiological monitoring technologies to sense physiological status and response to neuromodulation.
• Peripheral neuromodulation interfaces: Create scalable, atraumatic bio-interface technologies to sense and stimulate neural activity at high precision.
• Closed-loop control algorithms: Integrate a real-time feedback control system that measures physiological state and stimulates the PNS and/or spinal cord to produce a desired physiological response in vivo.

The ElectRx program consists of two Technical Areas (TAs). Each proposal may only respond to one TA (either TA1 or TA2). Individuals and institutions may participate in multiple proposals.

TECHNICAL AREA 1 (TA1): Biological foundations for feedback-controlled neuromodulation

TECHNICAL AREA 2 (TA2): Disruptive bio-interface technologies