Above: The world's smallest single-chip microcomputer system is located at the top of the hypodermic needle.
At present, scientists have taken a big step in the function of micro electronic devices, from ladybug-sized implants (tracking the oxygen level in deep tissues of human body) to miniature "neurodust" sensors (monitoring nerve signals in real time). This time, the implant developed by engineers from Columbia University is the smallest single-chip system in the world. It is a fully functional electronic circuit with a total volume of less than 0. 1 cubic millimeter, which has made a new breakthrough.
This makes it as small as a dust mite and much smaller than the smallest computer in the world. This is a cubic device with 0.3 mm (0.0 1 inch) on each side. This kind of microchip can only be seen under a microscope, and it needs some innovative thinking to be made, especially in its communication and power supply mode.
Generally speaking, small electronic devices can use radio frequency (RF) modules to send and receive electromagnetic radio signals, but these wavelengths are too large to be used in such a small device. On the other hand, at a given frequency, the wavelength of ultrasonic wave is much smaller, because the speed of sound wave is much lower than that of electromagnetic wave. Therefore, the team installed a piezoelectric transducer as an "antenna" for wireless power supply and communication through ultrasonic waves.
Combined with the airborne low-power temperature sensor, the chip is converted into a real-time temperature sensing probe, which enables it to monitor body temperature and temperature fluctuations driven by ultrasonic therapy applications. The ability of this implant has been proved in experimental living mice, where it is used for ultrasonic nerve stimulation. By intramuscular injection with a syringe, up to 7 implants can be implanted into the experimental mice at one time.
Finally, scientists imagine implanting this chip into human body, and then wirelessly transmitting the measured information through ultrasonic waves. In the present form, this is only limited to body temperature, but it may also include information such as blood pressure, blood glucose level and respiratory function in the future.
The scientist who led the research said: "We want to see how much we can reduce the function of the chip. This is a new concept of' chip as a system'-it is a single chip and needs nothing else, so it is a complete electronic system. This should be revolutionary for the development of wireless micro-implantable medical devices, which can sense different things for clinical applications and eventually be approved for human use. "
The study was published in the journal Science Progress.
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