Post by Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

We're excited to share a recent senior capstone project by electrical engineering concentrator Jerry Li: "A Flexible PMUT-Based Ultrasonic Cuff for Beam-Steered Selective Vagus Nerve Neuromodulation" Jerry developed a device that uses a flexible array of microfabricated piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers (PMUTs) to deliver highly targeted ultrasound to the vagus nerve. Compared to traditional electrical stimulation, this approach aims to be more precise and less invasive, with potential applications in treating depression, epilepsy, and enabling more refined neuroprosthetic control. To his knowledge, this is one of the first attempts to adapt microfabricated ultrasound transducers for peripheral nerve stimulation. He began the microfabrication process in May 2025 and continued through the summer; during the academic year he has focused on the electronics and system design. The greatest challenge has been the microfabrication, which is time intensive and requires careful iteration. At the same time, the most rewarding aspect has been working on a highly interdisciplinary problem—combining neuroscience, phased array theory, wireless power transfer, and mechanical prototyping—and gaining confidence in learning new domains quickly. https://bit.ly/4aabhrC