Out of the comfort zone, Canadian academician Mohamad Sawan's second-half journey

The brain-computer technology in science fiction movies is being brought into reality.

6:30 wake up

7:00 arrive at the laboratory

Meetings, papers and experimental guidance...

Continue to work after dinner with your lover until 1:00 in the morning and rest

This is an ordinary day for Professor Mohamad Sawan at West Lake University.

Sawan is an academician of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, an academician of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, an IEEE Fellow, a tenured professor at the University of Montreal in Canada, a chair professor at Westlake University and the director of the Department of Electronics of the School of Engineering, and the chief scientist of the CenBRAIN Laboratory of Biomedical Research and Innovation (CenBRAIN) at Westlake University.

In 2018, this scientist who has been working and living in Canada for more than 40 years decided to leave Canada and come to China.

This is a brand new country. Although Sawan has visited many times before, there is a fundamental difference between "have been" and "will stay". Sawan has encountered many difficulties-language barriers, different living habits, and even the need to adapt to the climate, but seeing China's support and tolerance for talents, technology, and the broad application prospects of bioengineering technology in China, Sawan is determined to stay. Thoughts.

The following is a transcript of the conversation between the reporter and Professor Mohamad Sawan:

Become familiar with China, "return to the nest" West Lake

Q: In 1990, you obtained a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Sherbrooke, Canada, and later engaged in post-doctoral research in biomedical engineering at McGill University in Canada. Why would you want to switch from electronic engineering to biomedical engineering?

A: Actually, I wanted to study medical school from the beginning. At the end of the 1970s, I had already applied to study medicine, because the war in Lebanon caused a delay in enrollment for several months. At that time, the teacher gave me two choices. If you go to engineering school, you can start school immediately; if you want to study medicine, you have to wait until the next year to start school.

It's been half a year, and I don't have the energy to wait any longer. Moreover, electronic engineering was a new major at the time, and I was also very interested in it, so I chose to study electronic engineering, and I went directly to my Ph.D. Going to McGill to engage in post-doctoral research in biomedical engineering, I feel quite regained.

Q: Are you comfortable with such cross-professional research?

A: It's better to adapt. Biomedical engineering itself is an all-encompassing profession, which involves biology, chemistry, electronic engineering, mechanical engineering, material science, etc., among which electronic engineering happens to be my specialty.

Q: Can you tell me how you got together with China?

A: In 2005, when I visited China with the Quebec Science and Technology Delegation, I had a preliminary impression of China's development.

In 2006, I had a long-term relationship with China. I worked as a part-time professor at Shanghai Jiaotong University and came to China for a few weeks every year to conduct course teaching and scientific research cooperation. During this period, I met Dr. Rong Guoguang, and we worked together, applied for, and undertook two Shanghai-Quebec international scientific and technological cooperation projects, and established an advanced biosensor and chip laboratory.

Q: So you and Dr. Rong Guoguang are old acquaintances.

A: Yes, and because of his recommendation, I will completely "live" in China in 2019 and will take up a post at West Lake University.

Q: Actually, in 2018, West Lake University was only established. Why did you not choose other well-known universities, but a brand new university?

A: At that time, Dr. Rong Guoguang introduced to me that West Lake University is China's first small and sophisticated new research university organized by social forces, supported by the state, and the target is the scale of the California Institute of Technology and the model of Stanford.

I was curious, so I went to the field and chatted with Professor Shi Yigong, the first president of West Lake University. The philosophy and development prospects of West Lake University described by him coincide with what I want to do in the future, and it also allowed me to participate in the construction of a new laboratory.

After a half-year transition period, I officially joined West Lake University full-time in January 2019. I have the honor to participate in the construction of West Lake University's laboratory infrastructure and become one of the co-founders of West Lake University.

Quickly set up a team to innovatively develop a new coronavirus detection system

Q: Just mentioned the laboratory. After all, you have never stayed in China for a long time before. Have you encountered any difficulties in the process of laboratory preparation and professional recruitment?

A: It is difficult to build a good laboratory and recruit a strong team in a short time. Fortunately, we got a lot of support from West Lake University at that time. In the preparation of the laboratory, the school gave us a "green light" for areas such as site supply, space planning, equipment purchase, and logistics support.

In addition, it is actually not that difficult to rely on the signature of West Lake University to recruit talents. Many outstanding domestic doctoral students will spontaneously want to research at West Lake University, and West Lake University also has a domestic first-class team of mentors that can quickly select suitable talents.

Q: How many people are there on the team now?

A: There are about 25 people, including 15 doctoral students, 3 research professors, 2 post-doctoral fellows, as well as research assistants, IT engineers and administrative assistants.

Q: What do you think are the differences between domestic doctoral students and Canadian doctoral students?

A: China's basic education is very solid, and a large number of outstanding talents have emerged, who can well complete the tasks assigned by the instructor. But on the other hand, the self-drive and innovation capabilities of high-end talents cultivated in China are generally weaker than those overseas.

Q: As far as I know, your first project at West Lake University is to research new biosensors and high-throughput automated detection systems for rapid on-site detection of pathogens such as new coronaviruses. How do you rate this project?

A: The initial decision to do this project was based on a strong sense of social responsibility. Really started to advance later, and found that the project has a broad application space in industrialization.

The first is the domestic application. Although the new crown epidemic is currently well controlled, the demand for detection has not decreased as a result; secondly, the epidemic is still raging overseas, and there is a huge space for detection demand.

I believe that the new crown epidemic will eventually leave us, but the pandemic will not. Therefore, our detection system can also be applied to the detection of other pathogens and disease markers.

Q: It sounds interesting. It must not be easy to develop such a complex set of sensors and detection systems

A: Yes, our final products are actually based on competition in the laboratory group. In the beginning, we did not have a consistent plan, and we were still in the exploratory stage. However, everyone was very serious about this and proposed different plans, such as desktop, handheld and other product forms, which will be launched one after another in the future.

Explore the application prospects of brain-computer interfaces

Q: Let’s talk about your current research focus. I heard that you are now researching brain-computer interfaces?

A: Yes, the brain-computer interface is a relatively cutting-edge and emerging research direction, and many top teams at home and abroad are deploying this area. The most complex organ of human beings is the brain. So far no one can understand the pathogenesis of brain diseases. Especially in the microscopic field, that is, at the neuron level, how it captures signals and generates responses is difficult to explain.

Many brain diseases have problems such as low attendance rate, a long delay in illness, and poor treatment effects. If you can understand the working principle of the human brain, many diseases, such as epilepsy, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and autism, can be cured.

Q: The brain-computer interface seems to exist in the world of science fiction, and it is still hard to imagine.

A: In fact, this kind of technology has been successful in animal experiments as early as 2008. No matter what kind of appearance and path, how to transform the "ideas" in the brain into instructions that the machine can recognize and realize transmission is a link that cannot be bypassed by this type of technology. This has always been our scientific researcher seeking a breakthrough. Point.

Q: Tell me about your research results.

A: One is the neural signal surface potential detection technology, which can be used to detect brain signals during epileptic seizures. The process of brain signal acquisition and transmission requires different chips to capture. To this end, we have designed a low-power system-on-chip, superimposed multi-chip structure, and two-way data transmission technology with a remote power supply. The detected signals are data compressed and wirelessly transmitted for feedback control.

The other is to study retinal implanted chips and peripherals for visual restoration of blind people. Vision is a very important function. If a patient's eyes are blind, his retina cannot receive information, or the nerve signal transmission pathway cannot transmit information to the brain. Through the exploration of retinal function and brain imaging, and implanting them into our brain with nanometer or even more precise instruments, we can improve our hearing and vision, and promote the imaging of eye information in the brain. , So that blind patients can see what we see.

Q: How is the research progress?

A: From the perspective of the brain-computer interface, it can be divided into wearable and implantable. The current wearable research process is relatively fast, but chip implantation still needs further clinical verification. Currently, we are cooperating with the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine to explore the use of artificial intelligence chips to predict epileptic seizures and improve the living conditions of epilepsy patients.

There are difficulties, but the light remains

Q: What do you think of the relationship between cutting-edge technology and commercial applications?

A: Research institutions generally spend more time doing basic research, while corporate R&D is based on product positioning and targeted development research.

Q: Does the establishment of Shenshen Technology also mean that you have commercial realization pressure?

A: It is undeniable that after the establishment of a company, commercialization becomes very important. The new crown detection system that we first converted is very suitable for commercial realization. After the future mass production gains revenue, this fund can also be added to more new projects and industrial realization.

Q: Compared with foreign countries, what do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of China's biomedical industry?

A: Let me talk about the advantages first. One is the rich human resources, and the other is the government investment.

In terms of disadvantages, China is vulnerable to overseas constraints on chip development. At present, most domestic semiconductor chips are imported from abroad, especially in high-end medical equipment. At the same time, well-known international brands occupy a major market share, and it is even more difficult for Chinese brands to breakthrough.

However, the chip problem will eventually be resolved, and I am very optimistic about the prospects of China's biomedical industry.

Q: Which segments of the medical device track do you think will have more room for development in the future?

A: One is AI. With the continuous development of deep learning, our understanding of the human brain will become clearer. By decoding the information of the brain, AI can help us solve a series of intractable diseases.

The other is visual imaging. The human brain can imagine what the eye sees, so what is the principle that we can see different colors? It is the transmission of visual signals. Through the implantation of the control unit and transceiver on the chip, we can see how specific images are imaged, analyze these functions, and finally perform precise repairs in the brain. The ultimate goal is to restore blindness for 10 years or even a 20-year-old patient's vision.

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