Fusion of biology and electronics in the early dawn of medical applications (1)

A Wireless Silicon Crystal monitor can be attached to the same use OK to stretch, you can throw away after use; another chip is expected to become the first commercial retina alternatives; there is also a component that is used to measure the waveform can be deeply rooted in the brain.

These technical advancement is recently in the United States San Francisco's International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) on the theme of many papers. In short, these technologies allow people to more convinced: biology will be the next important electronic applications.

"I suggest that engineers are studying two subjects: electronic engineering, while another is natural.

"Texas University researcher Mark McDermott said:" many engineers began on medical issues of interest. "McDermott also served in Freescale (Freescale) and Intel (Intel) the company's engineering and technical manager.

At ISSCC Conference of a speech, United States, Brown University Professor Arto Nurmikko describes engineering deals in electronics, optics and Anatomy of the brain implant design.

"This is including computer science, engineering, biology, and like Switzerland watches manufacturers like precision drilling machine learning, interdisciplinary fields. "Nurmikko said.

Belgium inter-school Microelectronics Center (IMEC) researcher Chris Van Hoof at ISSCC last hosted a field relevant to life sciences Symposium, in his opening speech that understand pointed out: "Si crystal and human interactions are becoming more closely.

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In the near future, equipped with Wireless Wearable Sensors for patients no longer have to go to the hospital, the doctor will be able to get out of the regular inspection reports, Samsung Advanced Institute of technology Hyung Kyu Lim, Executive Director at ISSCC keynote.

"Healthcare facilities and service robots are for these new businesses of the two main emerging consumer products.

"Lim says," However, the realization of these future services system is complex and expensive because they require higher machine intelligence. ”

For example, Toumaz Technology new enterprises in ISSCC on a custom chip, a wireless monitor in a cast-plaster cloth abandoned.

The chip is the variety of emerging intelligent wearable components that can help patients and consumers in a comfortable home for medical monitoring service.

"We not only face shuling oriented social, but also the society has not yet built up a healthy way of life.

"Toumaz company Technical Director Alison Burdett said," there are more and more people suffer from chronic diseases, this will be the global health system a heavy burden. ”

A large United States healthcare company is said to be working with Toumaz company, plans to launch before the end of the 2009 silicon-based medical plaster cloth.

In addition, the United States singular (GE) and Philips, the company said it will expand in the laboratory have similar plans.

In order to further reduce power consumption and improve reliability, Toumaz company 800MHz to 900MHz wireless network has developed a customized hardware and Protocol, the Assembly of the maximum data rate of up to 50kbps.

The chip in the communication of current 2.5mA, but its digital control part of the power consumption is only 100 μ w.

"Customized media access controller (MAC) is the key, because in a short distance communication, there is always a disturbance, and we have many buffer layer.

"Burdett said.

Although this product is a customized design, and pasted cloth in next year's listing of prices is expected to be as low as $ 5.

The use of chip size 16 mm square and only a small fraction of the cost. The chip will be adopted by the Infineon 130nm process for the company.

"When the pasted cloth considerable production, silicon chip cost really marginal.

"Burdett said," most of the cost from the Assembly and manufacturing side, because it must adopt new manufacturing process. ”

The chip can be used with sensor connection for ECG equipment, three-axis accelerometers or blood sugar, pH value and pressure monitor.

Although the same moment for one sensor to measure, but it can be in three sensors to switch between.

In the ' Life ' of the programme of papers Thermascope, Hitachi (Hitachi) explains how this component into consumer products.

The plan to use an out-of-the-box design and integration to watch or badge so that it can be used to record the user's body temperature, and a full suite of personal spiritual, physical and social status of ongoing assessment data.

A 200 users field survey shows that even a single sensor also helps to track the daily life of the minor mode change, Hitachi engineers said.

The monitor uses 30 cubic centimeters of module encapsulation, and work in the ZigBee network of 32-bit H8S processor.

Artificial retinal deguowuermudaxue prototype in an implantable array integrates 1,600 pixels