Michel M. Maharbiz (Advisor)

Research Advised by Professor Michel M. Maharbiz

BPN716: Ultrasonic Wireless Implants for Neuro-Modulation

Konlin Shen
David Piech
Kyoungtae Lee
2019

A major hurdle in brain-machine interfaces (BMI) is the lack of an implantable neural interface system that remains viable for a substantial fraction of a primate lifetime. Recently, sub-mm implantable, wireless electromagnetic (EM) neural interfaces have been demonstrated in an effort to extend system longevity. However, EM systems do not scale down in size well due to the severe inefficiency of coupling radio waves at mm and sub-mm scales. We propose an alternative wireless power...

BPN943: Silicon Carbide Thin Films for Chronically Implanted Microelectronics

Konlin Shen
2020

Chronically implanted integrated circuits (ICs) can enable sophistication in implants beyond purely measurement, such as closed-loop modulation of physiology. However, the body is a corrosive and chemically aggressive environment in which ionic and reactive oxidative species can easily damage implanted microelectronics. Conventionally, implanted ICs are packaged in titanium or ceramic housing to reach decadal lifetime, but such packaging is not conducive to sub-millimeter scale miniaturization. Thin-film encapsulants such as parylene, SiO2, and SiC can greatly...

BPN874: Charge Pumping with Finger Capacitance for Body Energy Harvesting

Alyssa Y. Zhou
2020

Sensors are becoming ubiquitous and increasingly integrated with and on the human body. As these devices grow in number and decrease in size, there grows a critical need to find sustainable and convenient power sources. We demonstrate a touch interrogation powered energy harvesting system which transforms the kinetic energy of a human finger to electric energy. As is well known for touch display devices, the proximity of a finger can alter the effective value of small capacitances, and these capacitance changes can drive a current which is rectified to charge an energy storage...

Rodent Wearable Ultrasound Interrogation System for Wireless Neural Recording

Joshua Kay
Bernhard E. Boser
Michel M. Maharbiz
2017

Advancements in minimally-invasive, distributed biological interface nodes enable possibilities for networks of sensors and actuators to connect the brain with external devices. These brain machine interfacing systems require addressing three critical areas for real world use: signal-acquisition hardware, real-time operation, and long term validation. The recent development of the neural dust sensor mote has shown that utilizing ultrasound backscatter communication enables untethered ...

Light-induced Electrokinetics: A path to a versatile micro total analysis system

Justin K. Valley
Ming C. Wu
Michel M. Maharbiz
Amy E. Herr
2011

The micro total analysis system (μTAS) has seen great interest and advances since its definition over two decades ago. By harnessing the fabrication tools of the semiconductor industry and exploiting the unique physical phenomena that dominate at the micro- to nano-scale,these devices aim to address applications ranging from point-of-care diagnostics to pharmaceutical development. A truly versatile μTAS technology platform will enable reconfigurable, parallel, and high...

Monitoring Deep-Tissue Oxygenation with a Millimeter-Scale Ultrasonic Implant

Soner Sonmezoglu
Jeffrey R. Fineman
Emin Maltepe
Michel M. Maharbiz
2021

Vascular complications following solid organ transplantation may lead to graft ischemia, dysfunction or loss. Imaging approaches can provide intermittent assessments of graft perfusion, but require highly skilled practitioners and do not directly assess graft oxygenation. Existing systems for monitoring tissue oxygenation are limited by the need for wired connections, the inability to provide real-time data or operation restricted to surface tissues. Here, we present a minimally invasive system to monitor deep-tissue O2 that reports continuous real-time data from centimeter-scale depths in...

B. Arda Ozilgen

Alumni
Bioengineering
Professor Michel M. Maharbiz (Advisor)
Ph.D. 2020

Arda received his B.S. degree in Biomedical Engineering with multiple honors from The Johns Hopkins University with a designated focus in sensors, instrumentation and micro/nanotechnology. His undergraduate research focused on developing scaffolds and instrumentation to promote osteogenic differentiation of human adipose-derived stem cells. As a Vredenburg Scholar, Arda also worked with a group of researchers led by the chair of the Nobel Committee in Physiology or Medicine to uncover the role of diacylglycerol kinase delta in type 2 diabetes pathogenesis. Arda is currently pursuing...

Maharbiz Lab: Tiny Wireless Implant Detects Oxygen Deep within the Body

April 14, 2021
Kara Manke

Engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, have created a tiny wireless implant that can provide real-time measurements of tissue oxygen levels deep underneath the skin. The device, which is smaller than the average ladybug and powered by ultrasound waves, could help doctors monitor the health of transplanted organs or tissue and provide an early warning of potential transplant failure.

The technology, created in collaboration with physicians at the University of California, San Francisco, also paves the way for the creation of a variety of miniaturized sensors that could...

BPN844: Wireless Sub-Millimeter Temperature Sensor for Continuous Temperature Monitoring in Tissue

B. Arda Ozilgen
2020

We demonstrate a tetherless, sub-millimeter implantable temperature sensing system employing ultrasonic powering and ultrasonic backscatter modulation assembled using commercially available components. We have demonstrated two sizes of sensors based on available components with volumes of 1.45 mm3 and 0.118 mm3. Individual sensors are able to resolve ±0.5 °C changes in temperature, suitable for medical diagnostic and monitoring purposes. Our goal is to solve a long-standing issue: chronically and tetherlessly monitoring deep tissue temperature.

Project ended: 12/18/...

Fast Detection of Low-Abundance Proteins Based on Ion Concentration Polarization

Bochao Lu
2019

Molecular detection and analysis are of fundamental importance in disease prevention, disease diagnosis, medical treatment, drug delivery, food industry, and environmental monitoring. Conventional immunoassays require hours of incubation for low concentration analytes (femtomolar) since the rate-limiting step is the transport of target molecules to the biosensors. Thus, a new technology for fast and sensitive immunoassay is highly desirable for disease monitoring and personalized treatments. The work reported in this thesis is focused on developing silicon microfabrication technologies for...