NeuroTec

NeuroTec Logo

At the research and development platform NeuroTec, physicians, engineers, and data scientists test new devices and methods that enable the recording of digital biomarkers in the everyday, out-of-hospital lives of patients with neurological disorders – for personalized diagnostics and therapies.

To the NeuroTec website

Director

Prof. Kaspar Schindler

Profile

Many brain disorders such as epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease or sleep disorders are chronic. However, current hospital- and appointment-based patient care provides «snap-shot»-like information only which does not allow to understand the longitudinal aspects of chronic neurological disorders. At NeuroTec, an interdisciplinary research and development platform located at the Swiss Institute for Translational and Entrepreneurial Medicine (sitem) and run by the Department of Neurology in close collaboration with the ARTORG Center, an interdisciplinary team of physicians, engineers and data scientists across three faculties of the University of Bern strives at closing this information gap. New devices and methods that allow to record digital biomarkers in the everyday out-of-hospital life of patients are tested. The goal is to monitor the individual course of a patient’s disease and to thus improve personalized diagnostics and therapies.

Teaching

Neurotechnology for students of the Postgraduate Sleep Master, Neurotechnology lecture series at the Master program in Biomedical Engineering; Rehabilitation Technology for students of the European Stroke Master program; Artificial Intelligence (AI) for medical time series, for MSc in AI in Medicine; Advanced Python for MSc in Bioinformatics; Advanced electrophysiology from neuronal firing to chronic recordings of electroencephalography (EEG) over months.

Research

Sensor-based digital biomarkers for motor function, cognition and mood. Assistive technology for brain-injured patients; Studying neural mechanisms of auditory processing in sleep and wakefulness with the use of invasive electrophysiological recordings and high-density scalp EEG; Measuring, quantifying and modulating cortical excitability acutely and chronically in epilepsy patients, and in patients with sleep disorders (narcolepsy, insomnia, REM sleep behavour disorder).

External Partners

Centre Suisse d’Electronique et de Microtechnique (CSEM), Neuenburg; Wyss Center For Bio- And Neuroengineering, Geneva; IBM, Zürich; University of California, San Francisco; Aix-Marseille University

Grants

  • Innosuisse Flagship: AI for BrAIn Health: Towards Personalized Brain Health in Switzerland, 9.6 Mio CHF (Lead: Bern), 2026-2031
  • Innosuisse Flagship: The New Model of Digital Neurorehabilitation along the Continuum of Care (SWISSNEUROREHAB), 11.2 Mio CHF; (Lead: Lausanne) 2022-2027
  • Takeda: A Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-Controlled Study to Evaluate the Efficacy, Safety, and Tolerability of TAK-861 for the Treatment of Narcolepsy with Cataplexy (Narcolepsy Type 1). Clinical trial with grant funding amount based on subject recruitment.
  • Sitem-Insel Support Fund (SISF). CHF 167,800. Swiss Primary Hypersomnolence and Narcolepsy Cohort Study (SPHNCS). PI: C. Bassetti, Co-PI: M. Schmidt
  • SNSF: Project grant: 2020-2023 Sensory predictions in the human brain
  • SNSF-Project Grant: iSPHYNCs
  • Fondation Pierre Mercier pour la science: 2021-2024 Neurobiology of outcome representation in Switzerland's citizen-centered society
  • NVIDIA: Grant for academic hardware: 2022 'Improving diagnosis of sleep disorders from brain signals with deep learning'
  • Eccellenza Professorship (M. Baud), 2 mio CHF over 2022-2027
  • CURE Award from the Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy – 250,000 $ over 2023-2025
  • Prognosticating chances of surviving a post-anoxic coma via auditory processing. Olga Mayenfisch Stiftung funding. Total amount: CHF 25,000
Neural timescales in wakefulness and sleep

Neural timescales in wakefulness and sleep

Understanding the organization of intrinsic neural dynamics is crucial for investigating brain functions in health and disease. A key question is: how do neural dynamics change in the sleeping brain? In this work we show evidence that mesoscopic neural populations possess different timescales that are shaped by anatomy and are modulated by the sleep/wake cycle.

Cusinato et al., J Neurosci. 2025

AI for BrAIn Health Flagship Project – Towards Personalized Brain Health in Switzerland

The cautious projections of double-to-triple increase of dementia cases in Switzerland by 2050 amount to estimated CHF 25.4 billion p.a. health care costs. Meta-analytic evidence demonstrates that 45% of dementia risk is linked to modifiable lifestyle factors, which calls for efficient and cost-saving preventive strategies.

The AI for BrAIn Health Flagship Project will develop an AI system for personalized dementia risk reduction targeting individuals with Subjective Cognitive Complaints - early indicators in the Alzheimer's disease continuum. This system complements human expertise with AI capabilities, integrating clinical evaluation with continuous lifestyle assessment via digital wearables.

Building on an integration of brain health trajectories derived from Swiss longitudinal epidemiological data with clinical expertise, the system generates individually tailored dementia risk profiles identifying modifiable factors (e.g., cardio-vascular risk, physical inactivity, depression). Digital therapeutic interventions support patient adherence while enabling out-of-hospital continuous monitoring and coaching.