In a 2025 publication titled “Enabling Model-Based Design for Real-Time Spike Detection,”a team led by Dr. Michela Chiappalone (University of Genova & IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino) introduced a novel framework for implementing real-time spike detection algorithms using Model-Based Design (MBD) in Simulink, deployed directly onto FPGA hardware.
Instead of writing low-level HDL code, the team developed a modular Simulink pipeline with HDL Coder, enabling easier, faster, and more accessible hardware development. To validate the system in vivo, they implanted NeuroNexus A4x4–5mm–100–703–A16 microelectrode arrays into the rostral forelimb area (RFA) and primary somatosensory cortex (S1) of rats. Their real-time architecture achieved 100% spike detection accuracy when compared to offline methods, with latency as low as 66 µs.