LOCATION
Department of Neurosurgery, West Wing, Level 3, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford OX3 9DU
Research groups
BIOGRAPHY
James FitzGerald studied Physics at Oxford University, then Medicine, also at Oxford. He trained in Neurosurgery in Nottingham and Cambridge. After obtaining a PhD in Neuroelectronic Interfacing at Cambridge University he returned to Oxford and now holds an academic faculty position in the Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences and a Consultant appointment in Neurosurgery at the John Radcliffe Hospital. He leads the Oxford Neural Interfacing Group and his clinical practice is in Neuromodulation for Movement Disorders and Chronic Pain.
James FitzGerald
Professor of Neural Interfacing
RESEARCH SUMMARY
I work on implanted and non-invasive electronic devices that interface directly with parts of the nervous system.
At present my main research focus is on the development of a novel type of interface capable of recording signals from motor axons in severed peripheral nerves after amputation, with the aim of using these signals to control sophisticated prosthetic limbs.
This requires advances in several areas including polymer microfabrication techniques, implantable electrophysiological recording systems, microsurgical implantation methods, and the development of multichannel signal processing and pattern recognition algorithms. A further problem is that like virtually all surgical implants, interfaces evoke a foreign body response that leads to the deposition of scar tissue on their surfaces, which leads to gradual electrical failure of the device. A major strand of my work at present concerns the development of techniques for long term scar suppression, and I have recently shown that drug elution is a very promising approach to this (see Journal of Neural Engineering 2016;13:026006 for further details).
I am also a consultant neurosurgeon in Oxford Functional Neurosurgery, which has the UK's largest clinical practice in deep brain stimulation, spinal cord and dorsal root ganglion stimulation and peripheral nerve stimulation, for the treatment of movement disorders and neuropathic pain. Alongside and closely intertwined with this clinical work we run a research programme investigating the mechanisms by which neuromodulation treatments work and how they can be improved and their use expanded to new indications.
I am the President of the Neuromodulation Society of the UK and Ireland (NSUKI), and serve on the board of directors of the International Neuromodulation Scoiety, and as section editor for Brain Stimulation of the society's journal, Neuromodulation: Technology at the Neural Interface.
Recent publications
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Developing RPC-Net: Leveraging High-Density Electromyography and Machine Learning for Improved Hand Position Estimation.
Journal article
Rolandino G. et al, (2023), IEEE Trans Biomed Eng, PP
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Auditory cues modulate the short timescale dynamics of STN activity during stepping in Parkinson’s disease
Preprint
Yeh C-H. et al, (2023)
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Seeing Is Believing: Photon Counting Computed Tomography Clearly Images Directional Deep Brain Stimulation Lead Segments and Markers After Implantation.
Journal article
Manfield J. et al, (2023), Neuromodulation
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Identification of motor progression in Parkinson's disease using wearable sensors and machine learning.
Journal article
Sotirakis C. et al, (2023), NPJ Parkinsons Dis, 9
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High resolution photon counting CT permits direct visualisation of directional deep brain stimulation lead segments and markers.
Journal article
Manfield J. et al, (2023), Brain Stimul
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Antiparkinsonian medication masks motor signal progression in de novo patients.
Journal article
Brzezicki MA. et al, (2023), Heliyon, 9
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Closed-loop parameter optimisation for patient-specific phrenic nerve stimulation.
Journal article
Keogh C. et al, (2023), Artif Organs
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Decomposition into dynamic features reveals a conserved temporal structure in hand kinematics
Journal article
Keogh C. and FITZGERALD J., (2022), iScience
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Longitudinal Monitoring of Progressive Supranuclear Palsy using Body-Worn Movement Sensors.
Journal article
Sotirakis C. et al, (2022), Mov Disord
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Computation of Activating Fields for Approximation of the Orientation-Specific Neural Response to Electrical Stimulation
Journal article
Keogh C. et al, (2022), Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Annual International Conference, 2022, 5152 - 5155