A Dual-Mode Multifunctional Pulsed Radio-Frequency Stimulator for Trigeminal Neuralgia Relief and its Animal Model.

This work proposed a programmable pulsed radio-frequency (PRF) stimulator for trigeminal neuralgia (TN) relief on demand. The implantable stimulator is a miniaturized micro-system which integrates a wireless interface circuit, a sensor interface circuit, a PRF pattern generation circuit and a logic controller. The multifunctional stimulator capable of delivering current/voltage stimulation provides the choice of the biphasic sinusoidal, square and patterned waveform for PRF treatment researches.

Field-effect pump: liquid dielectrophoresis along a virtual microchannel with source-gate-drain electric fields.

We investigate liquid dielectrophoresis (LDEP) to implement field-effect pumps (FEPs) that drive liquids from source, via gate, toward drain electric fields between parallel plates without external pumps or the problem of dead volume. The appropriate gate electric field establishes a wall-less virtual microchannel to transfer the liquid from source to drain with an adjustable flow rate (Q) controlled by the difference of the square of the electric field strength (ΔE2DS). Analogous to field-effect transistors (FETs), the FEPs can operate in a "linear", "transition" or "saturation" region depending on ΔE2GD and ΔE2DS.

A Low-Power CMOS Microfluidic Pump Based on Travelling-Wave Electroosmosis for Diluted Serum Pumping.

Microfluidic pump is an essential component in lab-on-chip applications. It is of importance to develop an active microfluidic pump with low-power and low-cost characteristics for portable and miniaturized diagnostic systems. Taking advantages of CMOS technologies, in this work, we report a low-power microfluidic pump based on travelling-wave electroosmosis (TWEO).

Tongue Pressure Sensing Array Integrated with a System-on-Chip Embedded in a Mandibular Advancement Splint.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which is caused by obstructions of the upper airway, is a syndrome with rising prevalence. Mandibular advancement splints (MAS) are oral appliances for potential treatment of OSA. This work proposes a highly-sensitive pressure sensing array integrated with a system-on-chip (SoC) embedded in a MAS.

A Wireless Monitoring System Using a Tunneling Sensor Array in a Smart Oral Appliance for Sleep Apnea Treatment.

Sleep apnea is a serious sleep disorder, and the most common type is obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Untreated OSA will cause lots of potential health problems. Oral appliance therapy is an effective and popular approach for OSA treatment, but making a perfect fit for each patient is time-consuming and decreases its efficiency considerably.

A Self-Sustained Wireless Multi-Sensor Platform Integrated with Printable Organic Sensors for Indoor Environmental Monitoring.

A self-sustained multi-sensor platform for indoor environmental monitoring is proposed in this paper. To reduce the cost and power consumption of the sensing platform, in the developed platform, organic materials of PEDOT:PSS and PEDOT:PSS/EB-PANI are used as the sensing films for humidity and CO₂ detection, respectively. Different from traditional gas sensors, these organic sensing films can operate at room temperature without heating processes or infrared transceivers so that the power consumption of the developed humidity and the CO₂ sensors can be as low as 10 μW and 5 μW, respectively.

A Smart CMOS Assay SoC for Rapid Blood Screening Test of Risk Prediction.

A micro-controller unit (MCU) assisted immunoassay lab-on-a-chip is realized in 0.35 μm CMOS technology. The MCU automatically controls the detection procedure including blood filtration through a nonporous aluminum oxide membrane, bimolecular conjugation with antibodies attached to magnetic beads, electrolytic pumping, magnetic flushing and threshold detection based on Hall sensor array readout analysis.

A remotely-controlled locomotive IC driven by electrolytic bubbles and wireless powering.

A batteryless remotely-controlled locomotive IC utilizing electrolytic bubbles as propelling force is realized in 0.35 μm CMOS technology. Without any external components, such as magnets and on-board coils, the bare IC is wirelessly powered and controlled by a 10 MHz ASK modulated signal with RS232 control commands to execute movement in four moving directions and with two speeds.

Physiology-based diagnosis algorithm for arteriovenous fistula stenosis detection.

In this paper, a diagnosis algorithm for arteriovenous fistula (AVF) stenosis is developed based on auscultatory features, signal processing, and machine learning. The AVF sound signals are recorded by electronic stethoscopes at pre-defined positions before and after percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) treatment. Several new signal features of stenosis are identified and quantified, and the physiological explanations for these features are provided.

Non-invasive Drosophila ECG recording by using eutectic gallium-indium alloy electrode: a feasible tool for future research on the molecular mechanisms involved in cardiac arrhythmia.

Background: Drosophila heart tube is a feasible model for cardiac physiological research. However, obtaining Drosophila electrocardiograms (ECGs) is difficult, due to the weak signals and limited contact area to apply electrodes. This paper presents a non-invasive Gallium-Indium (GaIn) based recording system for Drosophila ECG measurement, providing the heart rate and heartbeat features to be observed.

A device design of an integrated CMOS poly-silicon biosensor-on-chip to enhance performance of biomolecular analytes in serum samples.

For on-site clinical diagnosis of biomolecules, the detection performances of most point-of-care (POC) biosensor devices are limited by undesired cross-detection of other non-analyte proteins in patient serum samples and other complex samples. To conquer this obstacle, this work presents a fully integrated bottom-gate poly-silcion nanowire (polySi NW) biosensor system-on-chip (SoC) to enhance the detection performance of cardiac-specific troponin-I (cTnI) concentration levels in serum samples. By applying proper electrical potential at the bottom gate under polySi NW biosensor, the biosensor response to cTnI biomarker can be improved by at least 16 fold in 50% phantom serum samples.

A CMOS cantilever-based label-free DNA SoC with improved sensitivity for hepatitis B virus detection.

This paper presents a highly-integrated DNA detection SoC, where several kinds of cantilever DNA sensors, a readout circuit, an MCU, voltage regulators, and a wireless transceiver, are integrated monolithically in a 0.35 μm CMOS Bio-MEMS process. The cantilever-based biosensors with embedded piezoresistors aim to transduce DNA hybridization into resistance variation without cumbersome labeling process.

Chip implementation with a combined wireless temperature sensor and reference devices based on the DZTC principle.

This paper presents a novel CMOS wireless temperature sensor design in order to improve the sensitivity and linearity of our previous work on such devices. Based on the principle of CMOS double zero temperature coefficient (DZTC) points, a combined device is first created at the chip level with two voltage references, one current reference, and one temperature sensor. It was successfully fabricated using the 0.

Pain Control on Demand Based on Pulsed Radio-Frequency Stimulation of the Dorsal Root Ganglion Using a Batteryless Implantable CMOS SoC.

This paper presents the implementation of a batteryless CMOS SoC with low voltage pulsed radio-frequency (PRF) stimulation. This implantable SoC uses 402 MHz command signals following the medical implanted communication system (MICS) standard and a low frequency (1 MHz) for RF power transmission. A body floating type rectifier achieves 84% voltage conversion ratio.

A wireless bio-MEMS sensor for C-reactive protein detection based on nanomechanics.

A quick wireless label-free detection of disease-related C-reactive proteins (CRPs) using a 200-microm-long microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) microcantilever housed in a 7 x 7 mm(2) reaction chamber with a safe reusable feature is reported. The assay time ranges from about 30 min to 3 h, depending on accuracy. The deflection of the microcantilever due to specific CRP-antiCRP binding is detected using a position-sensitive detector.

A Multi Parameters Wearable Telemetric System for Cardio-Pulmonary Fitness of e-Health.

We report a multi parameters cardio-pulmonary (CP) monitoring system with features of low power consumptions (30mA,3.3V), miniaturization (size 25 cm), and wireless data communications (Frequency 96 MHz) for wearable applications in e-Health. Its target application is forthe evaluation of fitness of CP during exercises.