Medical Design Briefs - July 2021 - 26

pocampus transfer the memory to the
cortex for storage, or does the cortex
send a cue to transfer the memory?
Our findings show that communication
can be initiated by either, but to
go beyond that we'd need to do behavioral
studies. "
This study also reveals that there are
diverse and distinct modes of communication
between the hippocampus and
the cerebral cortex. The researchers
Working
distance
Flexible shank
found that the hippocampus communicates
with at least eight different parts of
the cerebral cortex every time sharpwave
ripples occur. Further, each of
these eight cortical activity patterns is
tied to a different population of neurons
in the hippocampus.
" These findings
suggest
Rigid
board
that
the
Working
distance
Rigid
shank
The flexible neural probe allows the working distance of the microscope to be close to the surface
(top), while a conventional probe with rigid parts makes the working distance (red arrows) much farther
(bottom).
interactions between brain regions,
not only between cortex and hippocampus,
can be fundamentally
diverse and flexible. Therefore, multiple
brain regions can efficiently work
together to generate cognition and
behavior that rapidly adapt to changing
environments, " says Ren.
This research was supported by the
Office of Naval Research (N000142012405
and N00014162531), the National Science
Foundation (ECCS-2024776, ECCS1752241
and ECCS-1734940), and the
National Institutes of Health (R21
EY029466, R21 EB026180, DP2 EB030992,
R01 NS091010A, R01 EY025349, R01
DC014690, R21 NS109722 and P30
EY022589).
This article was written by Liezel Labios,
UC San Diego. For more information, visit
https://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu.
Tiny, Wireless, Injectable Chips Use Ultrasound to
Monitor Body Processes
The single-chip system is a
complete functioning
electronic circuit.
Columbia University
New York, NY
Widely used to monitor and map biological
signals, to support and enhance
physiological functions, and to treat diseases,
implantable medical devices are
transforming healthcare and improving
the quality of life for millions of people.
Researchers are increasingly interested
26
Intro
Cov
in designing wireless, miniaturized
implantable medical devices for in vivo
and in situ physiological monitoring.
These devices could be used to monitor
physiological conditions, such as temperature,
blood pressure, glucose, and
respiration for both diagnostic and therapeutic
procedures.
To date, conventional implanted electronics
have been highly volume-inefficient
- they generally require multiple
chips, packaging, wires, and external
transducers, and batteries are often
needed for energy storage. A constant
trend in electronics has been tighter
www.medicaldesignbriefs.com
ToC
+
-
A
integration of electronic components,
often moving more and more functions
onto the integrated circuit itself.
Researchers at Columbia Engineering
report that they have built what they say is
the world's smallest single-chip system,
consuming a total volume of less than 0.1
mm3. The system is as small as a dust mite
and visible only under a microscope. In
order to achieve this, the team used ultrasound
to both power and communicate
with the device wirelessly. The study was
published online in Science Advances.1
" We wanted to see how far we could
push the limits on how small a functionMedical
Design Briefs, July 2021
µ
È

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Medical Design Briefs - July 2021

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