Walt Besio, PhD

[email protected]

Walter G. Besio, Ph.D. is a distinguished Professor of Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Rhode Island with extensive expertise in biomedical engineering, particularly in the areas of electroencephalography (EEG), neural engineering, and medical research device development. His research and professional experience are deeply rooted in the innovation and application of biomedical technologies to understand and address neurological disorders.

Dr. Besio earned his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Central Florida, followed by a Master of Science and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Miami. His doctoral work laid the foundation for his significant contributions to the field, focusing on advanced signal processing and electrode design.

He is a prolific inventor and holds multiple U.S. patents, many of which have also been issued internationally, primarily related to biomedical sensors, electrode systems for detecting localized electrical signals, and methods for providing electrical stimulation. Notably, his work includes innovations in tripolar concentric ring electrodes (TCREs) designed to enhance the quality and spatial resolution of EEG recordings, with applications in epilepsy diagnosis and brain-computer interfaces.

Dr. Besio is the Founder and CEO of CREmedical Corp., a company focused on developing, performing research with, and selling advanced, high resolution EEG electrodes and bio-amplifiers. His academic career includes roles as Professor at the University of Rhode Island, and prior to that, as an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Louisiana Tech University. He also served as an Instrumentation Laboratory Director and Teaching Assistant at the University of Miami.

His extensive body of work includes numerous peer-reviewed journal publications and conference proceedings, covering topics such as noninvasive transcranial focal stimulation, improved spatial resolution of EEG, conductive hydrogel tapes for tripolar EEG, and the effects of electrical stimulation on neurological conditions. Dr. Besio has been the Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator on numerous research grants funded by prestigious organizations such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF), totaling millions of dollars in research funding.

Dr. Besio’s contributions to the field have been recognized with several awards, including the University of Rhode Island Excellence Award for Intellectual Property and multiple Outstanding Intellectual Property awards. He is an active leader in the professional community, holding positions such as an IEEE EMBS Technical Committee Chair and serving as an Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

PhD, Biomedical Engineering, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, May 2002.
A Study of Laplacian Surface Maps from Moments of Activation to Detect Cardiovascular Disease

MSc, Biomedical Engineering, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, December 1997.
Command Generation for Enhanced Grasping Utilizing Surface EMG in Persons with Cervical Spinal Cord Injury

BSc, Electrical Engineering, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, December 1993.

Professor of Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering, May 2015 – Present, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI.

  • Leads the Neural Rehabilitation Engineering Laboratory, directing research focused on the development and application of innovative biomedical devices and techniques for neurological diagnosis, monitoring, and therapy. Oversees research projects, mentors graduate and undergraduate students, and secures significant research funding. Teaches advanced courses in biomedical and neural engineering, contributing to curriculum development and academic program leadership. His research includes pioneering work on tripolar concentric ring electrodes (TCREs) for improved EEG spatial resolution and transcranial focal electrical stimulation (TFS) for neurological disorders.

Founder and CEO, August 2011 – Present, CREmedical Corp., Kingston, RI.

  • Founded and leads a medical device company dedicated to the commercialization of advanced electroencephalography (EEG) technologies, including the tripolar EEG (tEEG) system. Oversees all aspects of the company, from research and development, intellectual property management, and product design to strategic planning, fundraising, and navigating regulatory pathways for medical device approval and market entry.

Associate Professor of Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering, May 2011 – April 2014, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI.


Assistant Professor of Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering, January 2008 – May 2011, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI.


Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, July 2002 – December 2007, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA.


Instrumentation Laboratory Director and Teaching Assistant, October 1997 – May 2002, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL.


Research Assistant, June 1994 – October 1997, Miami Project To Cure Paralysis, Miami, FL.


Junior Engineer / Sr. Technician, March 1986 – August 1991, Storagetek, Inc., Palm Bay, FL.


Engineering Technician, January 1982 – March 1986, Medicomp, Inc., Melbourne, FL.


Engineering Technician, March 1979 – January 1982, Documation, Inc., Melbourne, FL.

PATENTS
Tarjan P., Lu C.C. and Besio W., “Single or Multi-mode Cardiac Activity Data Collection, Processing and Display Obtained In A Non-invasive Manner.” 2002, US patent No. 7,043,292 B2.


Besio W., Fasiuddhin M., Patwardhan R., “Medical device for the detection, prevention and/or treatment of neurological disorders, and methods related thereto.” 2005, US patent No.  8,190,248


Besio W., “ Non-Invasive Automated Electrical Control Systems And Methods For Monitoring Animal Conditions.” US Application 10/2014


Besio W., “Biomedical Sensors Usable On Un-Prepared Contact Surfaces.” 2010, US Patent No. 8,626,259


Besio W., “Biomedical Electrode System and Method for Detecting Localized Electrical Signals and Providing Electrical Stimulation.” 2012, US Patent No. 8,615,283 B2


Besio W., “Biomedical Electrode for Detecting Localized Electrical Signals and Providing Electrical Stimulation.” 2012, US patent 8,352,012 B2



RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS
C. Considine, and W. Besio. Conductive Hydrogel Tapes for Tripolar EEG: A Promising Solution to Paste-Related Challenges. Sensors 2024, 24, 4222.


Fonseca-Barriendos D., Castañeda-Cabral JL, Martínez-Cuevas F, Besio W, Valdés-Cruz A, Rocha L, Transcranial Focal Electric Stimulation Avoids P-Glycoprotein Over-Expression during Electrical Amygdala Kindling and Delays Epileptogenesis in Rats, Life 2023, 13, 1294.


Almajidy RK, Mottaghi S, Ajwad AA, Boudria Y, Mankodiya, Besio WG, and Hofman UG., A Case for Hybrid BCIs: Combining Optical and Electrical Modalities Improves Accuracy, Frontier in Human Neuroscience, V 17, 2023, doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2023.1162712


Nami M. et al., A Proposed Brain-, Spine-, and Mental- Health Screening Methodology (NEUROSCREEN) for Healthcare Systems: Position of the Society for Brain Mapping and Therapeutics, J Alzheimer’s Dis. 2022;86(1):21-42. doi: 10.3233/JAD-215240


Santana-Gomez, Perez-Perez, Fonseca-Barriendos, Arias-Carrion, Besio, and Rocha. Transcranial Focal Electrical Stimulation Modifies Biogenic Amines’ Alterations Induced by 6-hydroxydopamine in Rat Brain. Pharmaceuticals, 2021, 14, 706.


Jyoti Saikia M, Besio W, Mankodiya M, The Validation of a Portable Functional NIRS System for Assessing Mental Workload. Sensors 2021, 21(11), 3810; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21113810


Daniel Pérez-Pérez, José Luis Castañeda-Cabral, Sandra Orozco-Suárez, Julio Sotelo, Walter Besio, Luisa Rocha. Noninvasive transcranial focal stimulation affects the convulsive seizure-induced P-glycoprotein expression and function in rats. Epilepsy & Behavior epub 2020.


Liu X, Makeyev O, Besio W, Improved spatial resolution of electroencephalogram using tripolar concentric ring electrode sensors, J Sensors 2020


Huggins,J, Guger C, Aarnoutse E, Allison B, Anderson C, Bedrick S, Besio W, Chavarriaga R, Collinger J, Do A, Herff C, Hohmann M, Kinsella M, Lee K, Lotte F, Müller-Putz G, Nijholt A, Pels E, Peters B, Putze F, Rupp R, Schalk G, Scott S, Tangermann M, Tubig P, & Zander T, Workshops of the seventh international brain-computer interface meeting: not getting lost in translation, J. Brain-Computer Interfaces, 12-2019.


Toole C, Martinez-Juarez I, Gaitanis J, Blum A, Sunderam S, Ding L, DiCecco J, Besio W, Source localization of high frequency activity in tripolar electroencephalography of epilepsy patients, Epilepsy and Behavior, 101 106519, 2019.


Ghatee R., Tolouei A., Fijalkowski J., Alsasa A., Hayes J., Besio W., Kennedy S., Cryogel‐Based Electronic–Tissue Interfaces with Soft, Highly Compressible, and Tunable Mechanics, Macromolecular Materials and Engineering, V 304, 12, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1002/mame.201900367


Valdés-Cruz A., Villasana-Salazar B., Williams B., Martínez-Vargasa D., Magdaleno-Madrigala V., Almazán-Alvaradoa S., Besio W., Transcranial focal electrical stimulation via concentric ring electrodes in freely moving cats: Antiepileptogenic and postictal effects, Experimental Neurology, Vol. 320, Oct. 2019, Article 113012.


Nasrollaholhosseini SH, Mercier J, Fischer G, Besio W., Electrode-Electrolyte Interface Modeling and Impedance Characterizing of Tripolar Concentric Ring Electrode, IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 2019 Feb 6. doi: 10.1109/TBME.2019.2897935.


Saikia M, Besio W, Mankodyia K, WearLight: Towards a Wearable, Configurable Functional NIR Spectroscopy System for Noninvasive Neuroimaging” IEEE Trans Biomed Circuits Syst. 2019 Feb;13(1):91-102. doi: 10.1109/TBCAS.2018.2876089. Epub 2018 Oct 15.


Li C, Yuan H, Shou G, Cha YH, Sunderam S, Besio W, Ding L, Cortical Statistical Correlation Tomography of EEG Resting State Networks, Front Neurosci. 2018 May 30;12:365.


Makeyev O., Besio W., Improving the accuracy of Laplacian estimation with novel variable inter-ring distances concentric ring electrodes, Sensors, Vol. 16, Issue 6, June 2016, Article 858, p. 16.


Makeyev O., Ding Q., Besio W.G., Improving the accuracy of Laplacian estimation with novel multipolar concentric ring electrodes, Measurement, Vol. 80, February 2016, pp. 44-52.


Grazyna B Sadowska, Xiaodi Chen, Jiyong Zhang, Yow-Pin Lim, Erin E Cummings, Oleksandr Makeyev, Walter G Besio, John Gaitanis, James F Padbury, William A Banks and Barbara S Stonestreet, Interleukin-1ß Transfer across the Blood-Brain Barrier in the Ovine Fetus, Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism (2015), 1–8


Santana-Gómez, CE, Alcántara-González, D, Luna-Mungia, H, Bañuelos-Cabrera, I, Magdaleno-Madrigal, V, Besio, WG, Rocha, LL, Transcranial focal electrical stimulation reduces the convulsive expression and amino acid release in the hippocampus during pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus in rats, Epilepsy and Behavior, 49:33-9 2015. The authors with “*” contributed equally to the work.


Zhang J, Sadowska G, Chen X, Park SY, Kim JE, Bodge CA, Cummings E, Lim YP, Makeyev O, Besio WG, Gaitanis J, Banks WA, Stonestreet BS, Anti-Interleukin-6 Neutralizing Antibody Modulates Blood-Brain Barrier Function in the Ovine Fetus, J. Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, 2015


Besio WG., Martínez-Juárez IE., Makeyev O., Gaitanis JN., Blum AS., Fisher RS., and Medvedev AV., High-Frequency Oscillations Recorded on the Scalp of Patients with Epilepsy Using Tripolar Concentric Ring Electrodes, IEEE J. Translational Eng. in Health and Med. (J-TEHM) vol. 2, 2014, 10.1109/JTEHM.2014.2332994.


Boudria Y., Feltane A., and Besio WG, Significant improvement in one dimensional cursor control using Laplacian electroencephalography over electroencephalography, J. Neural Eng. 11, 3, 035014, 2014.


Besio W., Cuellar-Herrera M., Luna-Munguia H., Orozco-Suárez S., Rocha L., Effects of transcranial focal electrical stimulation alone and associated with a sub-effective dose of diazepam on pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus and subsequent neuronal damage in rats, Epilepsy & Behavior, vol. 28, pp. 432-436, September 2013.


Rogel-Salazar G. Luna-Munguia H. Stevens KE. and Besio W. Transcranial focal electrical stimulation via tripolar concentric ring electrodes does not modify the short- and long-term memory formation in rats evaluated in the novel object recognition test. Epilepsy & Behavior, 27, 154-158, 2013.


Besio W., Makeyev O., Medvedev A., and Gale K., Effects of transcranial focal electrical stimulation via tripolar concentric ring electrodes on pentylenetetrazole-induced seizures in rats. Epilepsy Research, vol. 105, no. 1-2, pp. 42-51, July 2013.


Feltane A, Boudreaux-Bartels GF, And Besio W, Automatic Seizure Detection in Rats using Laplacian EEG and Verification with Human Seizure Signals, Annals of Biomedical Engineering, Mar;41(3):645-654, 2012 (DOI: 10.1007/s10439-012-0675-4)


Oleksandr Makeyev, Paulo Lopez-Meyer, Stephanie Schuckers, Walter Besio, Edward Sazonov, Automatic food intake detection based on swallowing sounds, Biomedical Signal Processing and Control, Available online 6 April 2012, ISSN 1746-8094, 10.1016/j.bspc.2012.03.005.


Makeyev O, Luna-Munguía H, Rogel-Salazar G, Liu X, and Besio WG., “Noninvasive transcranial focal stimulation via tripolar concentric ring electrodes lessens behavioral seizure activity of recurrent pentylenetetrazole administrations in rats,” IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 383-390, May 2013.


Makeyev O., X. Liu, Luna-Munguia H., Rogel-Salazar G., Mucio-Ramirez S., Y. Liu, Y.L. Sun, Kay SM., Besio WG., “Toward a noninvasive automatic seizure control system in rats with transcranial focal stimulations via tripolar concentric ring electrodes” IEEE TNSRE DOI (identifier) 10.1109/TNSRE.2012.2197865, vol. 20, no 4, pp. 422-431, July 2012.


Chen X., Threlkeld S.W., Cummings E.E., Juan I., Makeyev O., Besio W., Gaitanis J., Banks W.A., Sadowska G.B., Stonestreet B.S., Ischemia-reperfusion increases blood-brain barrier permeability and alters tight junction protein expression in ovine fetuses, Neuroscience, vol. 226, pp. 89-100, December 2012.


Besio W., Liu X., Wang L., Medvedev A., and Koka K., “Transcutaneous Focal Electrical Stimulation Via Concentric Ring Electrodes Reduces Synchrony Induced By Pentylenetetrazole In Beta And Gamma Bands In Rats” IJ Neural Systems Special Issue on Neuromodulation of Epilepsy, Vol. 21, No. 2, pp. 1-11, 2011, DOI: 10.1142/S0129065711002729.


Besio W., Sharma V., and Spaulding J., “The Effects of Concentric Ring Electrode Electrical Stimulation on Rat Skin,” Annals of Biomedical Eng, 38(3) pp. 1111-1118, 2010. (early online 2009).


Besio W., Cao H., Zhou. P, “Application of Tripolar Concentric Electrodes and Pre-Feature Selection Algorithm for Brain-Computer Interface,” IEEE Trans Neural Systems & Rehab Eng, 16(2) 191-194 4/2008.


Koka K., Besio W., “Improvement of Spatial Selectivity and Decrease of Mutual Information of Tri-polar Concentric Ring Electrodes,” J of Neuroscience Methods 165, 216–222, 2007.


Besio W., Koka K., Cole A., “Effects of noninvasive transcutaneous electrical stimulation via concentric ring electrodes on pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus in rats” Epilepsia, 48(12):2273–2279, 2007.


Besio W., T. Chen, “Tripolar Laplacian electrocardiogram and moment of activation isochronal mapping”, Physiol. Meas. 28, 515-529, 2007.


Besio W., Koka K., Aakula R., Dai W., “Tri-polar Concentric Ring Electrode Development for Laplacian Electroencephalography,” IEEE Trans BME, Vol. 53, No. 5, pp. 926-933, 2006.


Besio W., Aakula R., Koka K., Dai W., “Development of a Tri-polar Concentric Ring Electrode for Acquiring Accurate Laplacian Body Surface Potentials,” Annals of Biomedical Engineering, Vol. 34, No. 3, pp. 426-435, 2006.


Besio W., Fasiuddin M., “Quantizing the Depth of Bioelectrical Sources for Non-Invasive 3D Imaging,” Journal of Bioelectromagnetism, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 90-93, 2005.


Soundararajan V., Besio W., “Simulated Comparison of Disc and Concentric Electrode Maps During Atrial Arrhythmias,” Journal of Bioelectromagnetism, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 217-220, 2005.


Patwardhan, R., Besio, W., Calvert, J., Kusaka, G., Kusaka I., Zhang, J., and Nanda A., “Electroconvulsive Therapy for Seizure Control: Preliminary Data in a New Seizure Generation and Control Model,” Frontiers in Bioscience, 10, 3013-3019, September, 2005.


Patwardhan, R., Calvert, J., Besio, W., Kusaka, G., Kusaka I., Zhang, J., and Nanda A., “Technical Note: Preliminary Results in Development of a Novel Intracisternal Penicillin Seizure Model in the Rat,” Frontiers in Bioscience, 10, 3009-3012, September, 2005.


Besio W. and Tarjan P., “Atrial Activation Pattern from Surface Laplacian Electrocardiograms of Humans,” International Journal of Bioelectromagnetism, vol. 4, pp. 95-96, 2002.


Besio W., Lu C., Tarjan P., “A Feasibility Study for Body Surface Cardiac Propagation Maps of Humans from Laplacian Moments of Activation,” Electromagnetics, vol. 21, pp. 621-632, 2001.


Smith L., Besio W., Tarjan P., Asfour S., “Hemiplegia and Its Effect upon Fractionated Premotor, Motor and Ankle Dorsiflexion Reaction Times,” Perceptual and Motor Skills, vol. 86, pp. 955-964, 1998.



TEACHING
NEU410 – Independent Study – Instructor, University of Rhode Island. 2021-present. (1-2 students/semester)


BME491 – Independent Study – Instructor, University of Rhode Island. 2009-present. (1-3 students/semester)


BME 468 – Neural Engineering – Instructor (Added neural signal processing), University of Rhode Island. 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025. (Approx. 35 students)


BME 281 – BME Seminar 2 (2 sections) – Instructor (Added CAD and 3D printing), University of Rhode Island. 2018, 2019. (Approx. 45 students)


BME 181 – BME seminar I (3 sections) – Instructor, University of Rhode Island. 2011, 2012, 2014. (Approx. 55-66 students)


BME 461 – Physiological Modeling and Control – New Course Developer & Instructor, University of Rhode Island. Fall 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2020. (Approx. 21-24 students)


ELE 594 – Physiological Modeling and Control – New Course Developer & Instructor, University of Rhode Island. Fall 2009. (5 students)


ELE 601/602 – Graduate Seminar – Instructor, University of Rhode Island. Spring 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017. (Approx. 20 students)


ELE 591 – Physiological Modeling and Control – Instructor, University of Rhode Island. Spring 2008. (4 students) (Note: Also listed as ELE591 Physiological Modeling & Control, New course, URI, Spring 2008, Fall 2009, 4 students)


ELE220 – Electrical Circuits – Instructor (Modified existing course), University of Rhode Island. Spring 2009. (Approx. 60-65 students)


BME307 – Bioelectricity – Instructor (Modified existing course), University of Rhode Island. Fall 2008. (22 students)


ELE 699 – Ph.D. Dissertation – Advisor, University of Rhode Island. Fall/Spring 2008, 09, 10,11, 12, 13, 14, 15. (1-4 students)


NEU 503 – Introduction to the Neurosciences I – Instructor, University of Rhode Island. Spring 2012-present. (Approx. 10-16 students)


BIEN325 – Biomedical Instrumentation – Instructor, Louisiana Tech University. Spring 2006.


ELEN223 – Electrical Engineering Circuits II – Instructor, Louisiana Tech University. Spring 2005.


BIEN403 – Physiological Control Systems – New Course Developer & Instructor, Louisiana Tech University. Fall 2002, Fall 2003, Fall 2004, Fall 2005, Fall 2006.


BIEN510 – Biomedical Instrumentation – Instructor, Louisiana Tech University. Winter 2003, Winter 2004, Winter 2005, Winter 2006.


BIEN557 – Advanced Rehabilitation Engineering, Motor Prostheses – New Course Developer & Instructor, Louisiana Tech University. Spring 2004.


BIEN203 – Biomedical Principals II, Lecture: Physiology of the Heart and Laplacian ECG – Instructor, Louisiana Tech University. Winter 2002.


BIEN500 – Physiology, Lectures Membrane potential, nerves, action potentials, muscles, heart – Instructor, Louisiana Tech University. Fall 2002, Fall 2003, Fall 2004, Fall 2005.


BIEN562 – Rehabilitation Engineering & Assistive Technology I – Instructor (Distance learning), Louisiana Tech University. Winter 2002, Winter 2003.


BIEN563 – Rehabilitation Engineering & Assistive Technology II – Instructor (Distance learning), Louisiana Tech University. Spring 2003, Spring 2004.


ENGR589 – Rehab. Engineering, Augmentive & Alternative Communication – Instructor (Distance learning), Louisiana Tech University. Spring 2003, Spring 2004.


BIEN440 – Biomedical Measurements Lab – Instructor, University of Miami. Fall 2000, Fall 2001.