FieldLine Co-founder and Associate Research Professor Svenja Knappe
FieldLine Inc., a company that grew out of research being conducted in the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering, is building sensors to better image these magnetic fields. For the second consecutive year, capstone design students will help to advance their innovative concepts.
Together, FieldLine and a team of students have been exploring options for a flexible helmet that would hold sensors in place on a patient鈥檚 head while images are taken of the brain. This would allow imaging in a more versatile and realistic setting than currently available with traditional magnetoencephalography sensors (MEGs).
FieldLine鈥檚 MEGs can be used to understand a number of situations involving the brain, such as epilepsy, autism, depression, concussions, neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson鈥檚 or Alzheimer鈥檚, strokes and language development.
Following a听successful partnership with capstone design students two years ago听that was sponsored by her lab, Associate Research Professor Svenja Knappe has again chosen to support a team of capstone design students this year. This time sponsored by FieldLine, the students are helping the company improve their real-time functional brain imaging device.
Knappe, also a founder of FieldLine, said it鈥檚 helpful to work with capstone design students, because they have out-of-the-box ideas, are responsive to feedback, and bring a unique energy to the project.
鈥淎t our current stage, we鈥檙e very open to new approaches,鈥� said Knappe. 鈥淲orking with the students is a good way to get completely new eyes on a problem.鈥�
Students working with FieldLine include Abdujalil Almashama, Andrew Cope, Daniel Katzman, Carlos Molina, Aaron Park, Henry Vennard and Liyuan Zhang, who study mechanical engineering, and David Martin, who studies computer science.
Above: Team members from left to right: Andrew Cope, Daniel Katzman, David Martin, Aaron Park, Abduljalil Almashama, Henry Vennard, Liyuan Zhang, Carlos Molina.
Top: Daniel Katzman presents project prototypes at the team's mid-year test review.听
鈥淚 was excited to work with FieldLine, because I had faith in the importance of the project,鈥� said Katzman. 鈥淚f we do a good job, it could really make a difference not only for patients but for FieldLine as a company.鈥�
To get a good image, the sensors have to stay in the same place on the patient鈥檚 head 鈥� within 0.5 millimeters on each side.
David Martin, the team鈥檚 computer and software engineer, has been formulating algorithms and determining sensor location and orientation to ensure the images are accurate.
鈥淎s an engineer, you have an association with failure as a bad thing, but I鈥檝e learned that failure just means more data,鈥� said Martin. In developing multiple prototypes, this kind of data has allowed the team to bridge gaps between their two main prototypes, a lesson in comparative analysis.
Knappe said one of the reasons she was driven to become an entrepreneur was that it would enable her to get the technologies she developed in the lab to the users who needed them.
鈥淲e have this vision of enabling neuroscience further with very relevant applications, and now we actually have the ability to get it to the users,鈥� said Knappe. 鈥淚f you want to make an impact, you need to have a way to get it into the hands of your users.鈥�
Capstone design students have helped with this, she said. With the work they鈥檝e done, FieldLine is one step closer to improving a design that is already making a difference.
鈥淲hen choosing a senior design project, I at first didn鈥檛 understand everything FieldLine was doing, which only made it more intriguing,鈥� said Park. 鈥淔ieldLine is doing really innovative things, and I think that led them to also push us to explore.鈥�
Since its founding in 2017, FieldLine remains closely connected to collaborators and talent at 彩民宝典. In addition to sponsoring capstone design students, FieldLine was founded by Associate Research Professor Svenja Knappe, former Senior Research Associate Orang Alem and former Senior Research Associate Jeramy Hughes. The company also hired two graduates from the College of Engineering and Applied Science, one with a PhD in mechanical engineering and one with an master's听degree in electrical engineering.