CAREER: Implantable Wireless Microsystems for Diagnosis and Management of Glaucoma

低功耗集成电路、无线技术和硅微机械加工的最新进展为制造用于生物医学应用的微型无线微系统提供了强有力的工具。这些微系统在眼科中特别有用，其中有限的解剖空间需要微型手术器械和植入物。该职业奖的主要研究目标是开发一组植入式无线微系统，用于使用硅微加工和最先进的无线供电和读出技术诊断和管理青光眼。这两个专门针对的微系统是：1）用于长期（长达一年）监测眼内压的无线微系统，以及2）用于引流房水（房水分流）的非侵入性可调节微阀。 虽然这项建议针对一个特定的疾病，科学的调查和技术的发展将是有益的，在许多其他应用，涉及植入式无线microsystems.The教育部分的项目，以应对当前的危机，许多电气工程部门在吸引本科生对硬件为导向的跨学科领域。由于其多学科性质，研究与教育部分密切相关，以解决这一问题。教育计划包括积极推广和指导本科电气工程专业的学生，以提高和激发他们对多学科技术职业的兴趣，特别强调微系统技术及其在生物医学工程中的应用。该计划包括将研究活动纳入本科生课程，让本科生参与研究，并为大学生和大三学生开设闭会期间短期课程和研讨会。 这些短期课程通过要求最低的先决条件（物理，化学，生物学和数学）针对尽可能广泛的本科观众，旨在强调当前生物医学微系统和其他相关领域的多学科研究。

Recent advances in low-power integrated circuits, wireless technology, and silicon micromachining have provided strong tools for fabricating miniature wireless microsystems for biomedical applications. These microsystems are particularly useful in ophthalmology where limited anatomical space requires miniature surgical instruments and implants. The main research objective of this career award is to develop a group of implantable wireless microsystems for diagnosis and management of glaucoma using silicon micromachining and state-of-the-art wireless powering and readout techniques. The two specifically targeted microsystems are: I) a wireless microsystem for long-term (up to one year) monitoring of intraocular pressure, and 2) a non-invasively adjustable microvalve for the drainage of aqueous humor (aqueous shunt). Although this proposal targets a specific disease, the science to be investigated and the technologies to be developed will be beneficial in many other applications involving implantable wireless microsystems.The educational component of the project responds to the current crisis faced by many electrical engineering departments in attracting undergraduates towards hardware oriented and cross-disciplinary fields. Due to its multidisciplinary nature, the research is intimately tied to the educational component in order to address this problem. The educational plan includes active outreach and mentoring of undergraduate electrical engineering students in order to enhance and stimulate their interest in multidisciplinary technical careers with particular emphasis on microsystem technology and its applications in biomedical engineering. The plan includes incorporating research activities into undergraduate courses, involving undergraduates in the research, and developing inter-session short courses and seminars for sophomores and juniors. These short courses target the widest possible undergraduate audience by requiring the minimum prerequisites (physics, chemistry, biology, and math) and are intended to emphasize the current multidisciplinary research in biomedical microsystems and other related areas.