42-433 Neural Technology: Sensing and Stimulation
12 units, Carnegie Mellon University
This course gives engineering insight into the operation of excitable cells, as well as circuitry for sensing and stimulation nerves. Initial background topics include diffusion, osmosis, drift, and mediated transport, culminating in the Nernst equation of cell potential. We will then explore models of the nerve, including electrical circuit models and the Hodgkin-Huxley mathematical model. Finally, we will explore aspects of inducing a nerve to fire artificially, and cover circuit topologies for sensing action potentials and for stimulating nerves. If time allows, we will discuss other aspects of medical device design. Students will complete a neural stimulator or sensor design project. Although students in 42-733 will share lectures and recitations with students in 42-433, students in 42-733 will receive some distinct homework assignments, distinct design problems, and distinct exams from the ones given to students in 42-433 and will be graded on a separate curve from students taking 42-433.
Prerequisites: none listed
Offered: Spring 2027, Spring 2026
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