Described in a study published Dec. 8 in Nature Electronics, BISC includes a single-chip implant, a wearable “relay station,” and the custom software required to operate the system. “Most implantable systems are built around a canister of electronics that occupies enormous volumes of space inside the body,” says Ken Shepard, Lau Family Professor of Electrical Engineering, professor of biomedical engineering, and professor of neurological sciences at Columbia University, who is one of the senior authors on the work and guided the engineering efforts. “Our implant is a single integrated circuit chip that is so thin that it can slide into the space between the brain and the skull, resting on the brain like a piece of wet tissue paper.”

Brain development during the initial years is critical, shaped by both environment and caregiver behaviors. To clarify the causal relationship between maternal psychological distress and neuropsychiatric developmental delays, researchers in Japan analyzed data from over 82,000 mother–child pairs in a large-scale nationwide cohort. They found that distress within 1 year postpartum had stronger effects on the toddler’s neurodevelopment than prenatal distress, emphasizing the importance of continuous maternal mental health support before and after childbirth.

Secures core technology for high-resolution wearable devices through semiconductor transfer technology... Speeds up the commercialization of next-generation health monitoring devices. - Research results published in the prestigious international journal Materials Today.