Séminaire de Dr. Denys NIKOLAYEV

Vendredi 7 mars 2025, à 10h, Salle Laurent Vinay, INT

Dr. Denys NIKOLAYEV

(IETR Laboratory, Rennes)  

Physical Foundations for Future Wireless Battery-free Bio- and Neuroelectronics

State of the art implantable bio- and neuroelectronics for health and research applications require improvements. The major challenges include: 1) tethered connections for animal monitoring are prone to infection and induce stress; 2) wireless solutions for human use rely on batteries, occupying up to 90% of the device volume. Wirelessly powered/rechargeable options often rely on large subcutaneous modules, necessitating complex surgeries for implantation. Our group’s objective is to enable wireless and battery-less devices, making them extremely miniaturizable and long-lasting, paving the way for less invasive injectable bioelectronics, facilitating the use of soft and deployable devices, surgical micro-robotics, and ultra-miniature biosensors. To achieve this, we bridge recent advancements in three disciplines: the physics of wave control in complex media, conformal reconfigurable radiating surfaces, and implantable electromagnetic structures. Our work investigates the physical mechanisms governing the radiation efficiency of implantable bioelectronic devices deep within human body tissues. Based on our findings, we have developed and implemented novel electromagnetic structures. Our models identify key parameters and their quantitative relationships in various scenarios, enabling the calculation of specific electromagnetic design rules tailored to each application (e.g., electromagnetic source type, operating frequency, dimensions, and material properties). The results demonstrate that the wireless efficiency and, therefore power budgets, of bioelectronics can be enhanced by more than an order of magnitude compared to conventional designs. This breakthrough has the potential to reshape biomedical research, leading to more effective treatments and providing valuable tools for researchers.