CNS Core: Small: Reconfigurable Intrabody Network for Therapeutics (RIBNeT)

Chronic diseases are on a rapid rise throughout the world due to the growing aging population and increasing air, water, and food pollution in developing countries. Recently, emerging implantable and wearable medical devices have led to new insights in continuous monitoring and automated diagnosis for chronic diseases. To effectively manage chronic diseases through medical devices, this research project explores the design of robust and reconfigurable intrabody therapeutic networks that harvest their own energy.

We henceforth call it Reconfigurable Intrabody Network for Therapeutics or RIBNeT. Since the medical needs dictate the location and functions of nodes, the RIBNeT coordinates the operation of two types of nodes in physically separate portions of the body - the intrabody (energy) harvesting nodes and the intrabody therapeutic nodes.

The key intellectual merit of the proposal is in exploring a radically different landscape of energy transfer and data communication for RIBNeT from the perspective of building and operating small therapeutic networks as dictated by medical needs. Based on the magnetic induction communications (MIC) technology that works well for the intrabody environment, the energy harvesting and transfer throughout the body are modeled and tested.

A single on-body node (OBN) is augmented for energy availability inside the body to enable sustained long-term operation of RIBNeTs. The project also explores the challenges posed by OBN to the RIBNeT and devise ways of addressing them. In particular, it designs lightweight mechanisms to monitor and collaboratively optimize the energy delivery via internal harvesting and OBN, and explores ways of making the operation robust in the face of OBN removals.

In order to minimize energy use, RIBNeT maximizes opportunities for the nodes to sleep and minimizes need for inter-node coordination, while still allowing for emergency transmissions and mitigation of interference between various transmissions. In order to handle combined energy transfer and communications, the project explores the design of multi-segment antennas and a thin film-based MEMS energy harvester integrated into antennas.

We build circuit boards for integrated energy transfer and communications and test them using ex vivo animal tissue and human subjects.

Overall, the project is expected to pave the way for the commercial development of highly capable reconfigurable intrabody networks for therapeutics (RIBNeT). This project will also integrate the scientific findings and discoveries in education for students across disciplines (Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, and Biology).

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.