CAREER: Advanced Bioelectromagnetics for Wireless Biomedical Devices

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With advances in wireless communications, medicine, and biocompatible electronics, novel ideas toseamlessly integrate information technology and bioelectromagnetics toward the development of wirelessimplantable biomedical devices need to be explored. Bioelectromagnetic phenomena are intrinsic to thevital function of all living tissues, and a thorough understanding of both the internal electromagneticfields and the coupling of external electromagnetic fields to the human body represent a challenge thatwill significantly contribute to the development of new biomedical devices for the 21st century.The objective of this proposal is to bring about fundamental advances toward the development of novelwireless transcutaneous electromagnetic devices for biomedical applications by integrating in the sameframework macro- and micro-scale phenomena. The study will start from considering the development ofsuitable antenna systems for power and data telemetry between units internal and external to the humanbody, to reach the level of understanding how induced and spontaneous electrical signals can bemeaningfully used in the development of biomedical devices. Macro-scale interactions of exogenous andendogenous electromagnetic fields in the human body will be interfaced with microbioelectromagneticmodeling, with the focus on characterizing exposure and excited electrical activity at the cellular andmolecular level. Such studies will help in understanding and elucidating the mechanisms of interaction ofelectromagnetic fields with biological tissues, with potential applications to neural responses toelectromagnetic excitations.Full-wave Finite-Difference Time-Domain based numerical methods will be used for this completemodeling effort, with integration of quasi-static methods for the low frequency modeling of neuralresponses. Experimental systems to test the performance of the developed implantable wireless links willbe fabricated, while computational models of the neural responses will be validated through collaborationwith researchers at Johns Hopkins University.The impact of the proposed research activity will extend from the development of a epiretinal prosthesisto restore sight in over 10,000,000 visually impaired to the development of wireless devices for sensingthe daily evolution of cancer. Collaborations with the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute and biomedicalcompanies are already in place to provide the necessary medical help and expertise.This project will offer a unique research environment with strong interdisciplinary and multi-institutionalcollaborations that will provide graduate and undergraduate students an unprecedented exposure toinnovative technologies for the 21st century. New educational approaches aimed to present a broadersystem-oriented view of the role of electromagnetics and bioelectromagnetics in today's and tomorrow'stechnology will be pursued to expose students early in their career to a new and timely perspective ofcareers in engineering electromagnetics and bioelectromagnetics.