Tech Briefs Magazine - October 2021 - ST-24

Tech Briefs
both power and communicate with the
device wirelessly. They fabricated the
" antenna " for communicating and powering
with ultrasound directly on top of
the chip.
The chip, which is the entire im -
plantable/injectable mote with no additional
packaging, was fabricated at the
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
Company with additional process modifications
performed in the Columbia
Nano Initiative cleanroom and the City
University of New York Advanced 3+
Research Center (ASRC) Nano fab ri ca -
tion Facility.
Mote on a needle. (Image Credit: Chen Shi/Columbia Engineering)
sor of biomedical engineering. " This is a
new idea of 'chip as system' - this is a
chip that alone, with nothing else, is a
complete functioning electronic system.
This should be revolutionary for developing
wireless, miniaturized im plant able
medical devices that can sense different
things, be used in clinical applications,
and eventually approved for human use. "
Traditional RF communications links
are not possible for a device this small
because the wavelength of the electromagnetic
wave is too large relative to the
size of the device. Because the wavelengths
for ultrasound are much smaller
at a given frequency because the speed
of sound is so much less than the speed
of light, the team used ultrasound to
Shepard commented, " This is a nice
example of 'more than Moore' technology
- we introduced new materials
onto a standard complementary metaloxide-semiconductor
to provide new
functions. In this case, we added piezoelectric
materials directly onto the integrated
circuit to transduce acoustic energy
to electrical energy. "
The team's goal is to develop chips
that can be injected into the body with a
hypodermic needle and then communicate
back out of the body using ultrasound,
providing information about
something they measure locally. The
current devices measure body temperature,
but there are many more possibilities
the team is working on.
For more information, contact Holly
Evarts at holly.evarts@columbia.edu
Making Patient Care Easier: Self-Powered Diaper Sensors
that Monitor Urine Sugar Levels
Monitoring urine sugar levels is important during early stages of diabetes, and diaper
sensors represent an attractive solution.
Tokyo University of Science, Japan
n a recent study, scientists from Tokyo
University of Science (TUS) developed
a novel self-powered diaper sensor
that generates the required electricity
directly from urine using a biofuel cell.
The proposed device can wirelessly
transmit the measured glucose concentration
and notify the presence of urine,
helping prevent diabetes and greatly
simplify patient care.
I
Thanks to science and modern medicine,
we know a lot more now about the
early signs of certain diseases and which
biomarkers to check. Most importantly,
we have the necessary devices and techniques
to conveniently sample and ana24
Cov
lyze
these biomarkers in clinical settings
so that doctors, patients, and caregivers
can act accordingly. In the ever-evolving
field of healthcare technology, wearable
electronics and biosensors are seen as
potential game changers, as they allow
both medical staff and non-medical people
to remotely monitor relevant body
variables.
In the specific case of diabetes, monitoring
blood sugar levels is crucial.
Fortunately, urine sugar levels provide
indirect information about blood sugar
levels and can be used as an alternative
biomarker to avoid constantly drawing
blood. Sensors can be embedded directly
www.techbriefs.com
ToC
into their diapers, to measure urine
sugar levels in elderly or long-term care
patients. By wirelessly transmitting the
acquired data, diaper sensors can greatly
simplify caretaking and health monitoring
tasks. However, both sensors and
wireless transmitters require an energy
source to function and putting batteries
in diapers may be a questionable solution
from both environmental and practical
standpoints.
Scientists from TUS have worked out a
solution to this problem. They have
developed a promising approach to realizing
self-powered diaper sensors that
can generate energy directly from urine.
Sensor Technology, October 2021
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Tech Briefs Magazine - October 2021

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