Benoit Gosselin

Professor Benoit Gosselin’s Smart Biomedical Microsystems Laboratory at Université Laval is recruiting a postdoctoral fellow for the Optical Spinal Implant (OSI) program, a large multidisciplinary neurotechnology effort focused on chronic pain. The project centers on the development of a miniaturized, intelligent optical spinal implant that combines cell-specific optogenetic stimulation, fluorescence-based neural sensing, ultra-low-power integrated circuits, embedded intelligence, and wireless communication. The goal is precise, adaptive, closed-loop modulation of spinal circuits involved in neuropathic and nociceptive pain. The fellow will contribute to the co-design of the implant’s intelligent microelectronic system at the intersection of analog/mixed-signal ASIC design and embedded TinyML . The work includes low-noise photodiode interfaces, signal conditioning, data conversion, stimulation and power-management circuits, and the digital blocks needed to process and interpret signals. In parallel, the project involves developing and deploying machine-learning models under severe memory, computation, latency, and energy constraints. Research activities span the full hardware-to-system pipeline: circuit simulation and verification, hardware-algorithm co-simulation, tape-out, bench characterization, and integration of the analog chain with TinyML engines, flexible circuitry, LEDs, photodiodes, and a UWB link. Depending on project needs, the fellow may also contribute to evaluating wireless power-transfer solutions. The position sits within a major collaborative research alliance bringing together expertise in microelectronics, neuroscience, optogenetics, wireless technologies, and preclinical research across multiple Canadian universities and partner organizations.