Neural Sensors


Neural Sensors

This week in class we learned about different types of sensors. We also participated in a lab in which we made sensors that can detect the amount of sugar in a liquid. Delving deeper into such detectors, I looked at devices made out of biocompatible material that can be put into human bodies.
Engineers at the University of California, Berkeley succeeded in creating the very first dust-sized wireless sensors that may be implanted within the body. These sensors do not require batteries. The device is powered through capturing the tiny amounts of energy that are emitted by smart phones and tablets, which use near-field communications (NFC). This is a type of technology that requires electromagnetic induction among antennae that are located inside portable devices. 
The “neural dust” is implanted in the muscles and peripheral nerves of rats and is unique due to its use of ultrasound. Ultrasound vibrations are able to penetrate just about everywhere within the human body which makes them much more useful than radio waves. With the finding that patients with high blood pressure can be treated by applying ultrasound to their forearm, this ability can be useful in many regards. 


Having access to telemetry, which is the process or recording and transmitting the readings of an instrument, within the body has never been possible because there was no way to put something so tiny so deep inside. But now due to the creation of these dust-sized devices, we can take it and put it right next to a nerve or organ and read out the data. 
The sensors themselves work by holding a piezeoelectric crystal that converts ultrasound vibrations and pressure from outside of the body into electricity that powers a tiny, on board transistor that is in direct contact with a nerve or muscle fiber. When there is a spike in voltage, this alters the circuit and vibration of the crystal, which then changes the echo detected by the ultrasound receiver. This slight change is known as backscatter which allows researchers to determine the exact voltage. 
As of now, the sensors are small enough to have a good application in the peripheral nervous system. This could mean using these devices for bladder control or appetite suppression. 
Although the experiments so far have involved peripheral nervous system and muscles, the neural dust motes could work just as well in the central nervous system. This opens up the opportunity of using these sensors in controlling prosthetics for handicapped people. Implantable electrodes these days generally degrade within a year or two and are always connected to wires that must go through holes cut directly in the skull. These new wireless sensors, however, could be sealed within which would limit infection as well as unwanted movement of the electrodes. This technology could be made to essentially last a lifetime. 


This advent in such technology opens up the possibility of controlling mechanical devices with just our minds in the future. We would be able to connect to smart house devices and control them just by thinking about it. Drones and other such robotic machines would become an extension of ourselves. Our reach would extend beyond just our physical bodies. 


Bibliography

“Engineers Create The First Dust-Sized Wireless Sensors That Can Be Implanted Into The Human Body.” Science News Journal, 11 Aug. 2016, sciencenewsjournal.com/engineers-create-first-dust-sized-wireless-sensors-can-implanted-human-body/.

“New Skin Patch Monitoring Device Gets Energy Through NFC and Doesn't Require a Battery.” Science News Journal, 5 Aug. 2016, sciencenewsjournal.com/new-skin-patch-monitoring-device-gets-energy-nfc-doesnt-require-battery/.

Seo, Dongjin, et al. “Wireless Recording in the Peripheral Nervous System with Ultrasonic Neural Dust.” 3 Aug. 2016, www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(16)30344-0.

“High Blood Pressure in Type II Diabetes Patients Dropped with Ultrasound.” Science News Journal, 4 Aug. 2016, sciencenewsjournal.com/high-blood-pressure-type-ii-diabetes-patients-dropped-ultrasound/.

“New “Neural Dust” sensor could be implanted in the body.” UC Berkeley , 3 Aug. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=oO0zy30n_jQ.

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