Seminar: Endocisternal Brain Computer Interfaces, Dr. William Muirhead, University College London Hospitals (UCLH)

Talk title: Endocisternal Brain Computer Interfaces

Abstract: Brain Computer Interfaces are currently implanted in clinical trials using a range of surgical corridors (intracortical, subdural, extradural, endovascular). We will discuss the neurosurgical background and rationale for development of brain computer interfaces delivered using the cerebrospinal fluid spaces as as access corridors.

Bio: Dr. William Muirhead is a Consultant Neurosurgeon at University College London Hospitals (UCLH) and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, and a Clinical Fellow at the Francis Crick Institute. His research is focused on the clinical translation of neurotechnologies, with particular interests in brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), invasive neural recording, and AI-based analysis of surgical data.

He is a member of the Schaefer Lab for Sensory Circuits and Neurotechnology and works closely with interdisciplinary teams at the UCL Wellcome/EPSRC Centre for Interventional and Surgical Sciences (WEISS) and the Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging. Dr. Muirhead serves as Principal or Chief Investigator on several clinical trials of novel neurotechnologies, including the SUNAN study, which will trial first-in-human Neuropixels recordings.

His broader research spans ultra-high-field (7T) MRI, neuroprosthetics, and real-time surgical decision support systems. He completed his doctoral research at UCL, focusing on microsurgical innovations in the treatment of cerebral aneurysms, and continues to work at the interface of neurosurgery, engineering, and computational neuroscience.