Thanks to the European TARA project coordinated by the University of Pisa, the first prototype of an implantable neurostimulator to treat migraine without the need of taking painkillers is being developed. The device is like a small cylinder equipped with electrodes, placed under the skin between the neck and the nape. Through an external control unit, the device communicates with an app to manage and control the generation of impulses. Moreover, these devices are implanted without surgery. The patient can use the app to monitor his or her state of health and choose between different impulse sequences, previously agreed with the specialist.
“At the University of Pisa, in addition to coordinating the project,” explains Professor Massimo Piotto of the Department of Information Engineering, “we developed and designed the chip in order to generate electrical impulses for the implanted electrodes and collaborated on the design and characterisation of the chip for acquiring and processing biopotentials (ECG, EMG).”
UNIPI Team, from the left: Massimo Piotto, Andrea Ria, Paolo Bruschi, Francesco Gagliardi, Iacopo Nannipieri, Margherita Scognamiglio
TARA (Disrupting the Migraine continuum of care for resource-constrained settings) has been funded to the tune of around EUR 6 million, of which around EUR 358,000 is earmarked for the University of Pisa. The project, begun in 2022, will last for three years involving an international, multidisciplinary consortium made up of academic and corporate experts in the fields of electrical engineering, biomedical engineering, information technology and medicine. In addition to the University of Pisa, there are also nine partners involved such as: Capri Medical (Ireland), Sensichips Srl (Italy), Univerzitetni klinicni centre Maribor (Slovenia), Brai3n (Belgium), Skein-Ukraine (Ukraine), Crowdhelix (Ireland), South Tees Hospitals Nhs Foundation Trust (UK), Centre for Process Innovation (UK), European Society of Regional Anaesthesia and Pain Therapy (Switzerland).
Professor Massimo Piotto, who is coordinating this project, has been involved in research related to the development of integrated sensors, Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and electronic sensor interfaces for more than 20 years, first as a researcher at the National Research Council (CNR) and later as an associate Professor at the University of Pisa. He has participated in numerous national and international projects and he is part of the UNIPI research group “Integrated Circuits and Sensors (ICS)” of Professor Paolo Bruschi, as head of the “Integrated Sensor Systems (ISS)” laboratory at the Department of Information Engineering.