cations they serve, and the technologies enabling such systems. As biomimetic .... Tung University as well as the University System of Taiwan Master. Lecturer ...
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Implantable Biomimetic Microelectronics Systems BY WENTAI LIU
Guest Editor MARK S. HUMAYUN
Guest Editor MARK A. LIKER
Guest Editor
I
n recent years, advances in biology, medicine, and microelectronics have converged to form a new class of medical devices aimed to treat otherwise intractable diseases such as blindness, paralysis, and various nervous system disorders. The goal of these systemsVto restore a lost biological function effectively and efficiently through microelectronicsV invariably guides the systems themselves to be biomimetic in nature, for example, in terms of their functional design, mechanical properties, and so This issue provides a on. As one would guess, the design and development of such systems re- comprehensive overview quire interdisciplinary research involv- of state-of-the-art ing several subareas of engineering, implantable biomimetic medicine, and biology. Our editorial microelectronics systems, team itself has two researchers en- the diverse range of gaged in interdisciplinary research for applications they serve, 20 years developing retinal prosthesis to restore vision in blindVLiu with his and the technologies electrical, neural engineering, and bio- enabling such systems. engineering expertise and Humayun with his medicine, biology, and biomedical engineering expertise. The team also includes Liker, a surgeon and clinician with an engineering background and specific expertise in deep brain stimulation. This special issue provides a comprehensive overview of state-of-the-art implantable biomimetic microelectronics systems, the diverse range of applications they serve, and the technologies enabling such systems. As biomimetic systems and applications is a rapidly growing field, the papers in the issue also point towards the future research directions and the challenges faced towards the goal of fully realizing these sophisticated systems. The 13 papers in this special issue can be grouped into two categories: 1) clinical systems and their design and applications; 2) enabling technology and components of these systems. Digital Object Identifier: 10.1109/JPROC.2008.922553
0018-9219/$25.00 Ó 2008 IEEE
Weiland and Humayun describe the efforts throughout the world in retinal prostheses systems to restore vision and their promise towards functionally useful vision in blind subjects. Fayad and colleagues provide an overview of three types of auditory prostheses, the underlying technology, implementation, and clinical outcomes. Lin and his colleague describe the various techniques for muscle stimulation to restore respiratory function in spinal cord injured. There are two papers related to spinal cord stimulation techniques and systems for prostheses and pain control. North provides an overview of spinal cord stimulation for treating various modalities of pain with a discussion on issues of efficacy and safety. Pikov describes his work on intraspinal microstimulation and its applications for restoring somatic and visceral functions after spinal cord injury. There are two papers related to techniques that target brain disorders such as epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease. Liker and colleagues describe the technique of deep brain stimulation, its application to treat certain neurological disorders, and its future indications and needs. Amar and coleagues provide an overview of vagus nerve stimulation for treating
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intractable epilepsy, its underlying mechanisms, and clinical utility. There are two papers with different target applications that involve recording brain activity. He and colleagues describe the methods and technology pertaining to cortically controlled neurprosthetics for restoring lower limb function in spinal cord injured. Lin and his colleagues report their work on a wireless noninvasive prosthetic system for sensing brain activity to monitor the degree of alertness and attention in applications to improve the safety of workers in reallife situations such as driving. There are four papers in the technology category. Wise and colleagues present their microelectrode array technology for brain recording and stimulation and their efforts in integrating the electronics and the microelectrodes. Harrison provides the microelectronics designer’s perspective of building integrated circuits for recording brain activity. Kaliki and his colleagues report on their modeling
and experiments in using the residual voluntary shoulder movements as command signals for the prosthetic controller to restore limb motion in amputees and the spinal cord injured. Schulman presents a detailed report on BION, an injectable versatile microstimulator that would allow multichannel electrical stimulation in the body. The papers in this special issue cover a wide range of specialty areas such as microelectronics, device fabrication and packaging, neuroscience, and neurosurgery. One important area for implantable systems that has not been addressed in this special issue is biomaterials. Since this area is a field within itself, we found it difficult to have a dedicated paper. However, the paper by Wise and his colleagues addresses the importance of biomaterials and the issues related to packaging the implantable systems to ensure biocompatibility. Even glancing through the papers, one quickly realizes that every im-
plantable biomimetic microelectronic system described herein requires the expertise of several areas in the disciplines of biology, medicine, and engineering to develop a system that benefits the patients and restore lost functionality. These efforts have resulted in the new paradigm of interdisciplinary research where engineers, biologists, and clinicians are working together in a concerted effort to overcome the existing challenges, widen the scope of these systems and improve the efficacy and safety while using these systems in clinical applications. We believe that continued efforts in these directions will result in ever sophisticated systems that improve the quality of life of the patients using these systems. We thank the authors for their rich contributions and the reviewers for their time and efforts to ensure high quality of the papers. Our special thanks to Mohanasankar Sivaprakasam for his outstanding professional service towards this special issue. h
ABOUT THE GUEST EDITORS Wentai Liu received the B.S. degree from National Chiao-Tung University, Taiwan, R.O.C., the M.S. degree from National Taiwan University, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. In 1983, he joined North Carolina State University, where he held the Alcoa Chair Professorship in the department of electrical and computer engineering. Since 2003, he has been a professor in the electrical engineering department at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he is the Campus Director of the NSF Engineering Research Center on Biomimetic Microelectronics Systems. Since its early stages in 1988, he has been leading the engineering efforts of the retinal prosthesis to restore vision, finally leading to successful preliminary implant tests in blind patients. He has published more than 200 technical papers and is a coauthor of Wave Pipelining: Theory and CMOS Implementation (Kluwer Academic
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Publishers, 1994) and Emerging Technologies: Designing Low Power Digital Systems (IEEE Press, 1996). He has delivered more than 100 invited lectures around the world. Over the years, his work on retinal prosthesis has featured in major news media. His research interests include neural prosthesis, bioelectronics, implantable microelectronics, high speed transceiver design (wired and wireless), microelectronic sensors, timing/clock optimization, on-chip interconnects, and computer vision/image processing. He received an IEEE Outstanding Paper Award, ISSCC Best SpecialTopic Session Award, NASA Achievement Award and the Alcoa Foundation’s Distinguished Engineering Research Award. He received an Outstanding Alumni Award from National Chiao-Tung University, Taiwan. He holds the appointments of Chair Professor at National ChiaoTung University as well as the University System of Taiwan Master Lecturer since 2006. He is the Honorary Director of Biomimetic Systems Research Center in National Chiao-Tung University, which he helped found in 2007.
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Mark S. Humayun received the B.S. degree from Georgetown University, Washington, DC, in 1984, the M.D. degree from Duke University, Durham, NC, in 1989, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in 1994. He completed his Ophthalmology Residency at Duke Eye Center and a Fellowship in Vitreoretinal Diseases at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD. He stayed on as faculty at Johns Hopkins, while he rose to the rank of Associate Professor before moving to the University of Southern California, Los Angeles (USC), in 2001. He is a Professor of Ophthalmology, Biomedical Engineering, and Cell and Neurobiology at the Doheny Eye Institute at USC. Leading a team of more than 30 faculty and 200 students from 15 different institutes, he is focused on developing therapies for: 1) retinal degenerations; 2) macular degeneration; 3) retinovascular diseases such as vein occlusions; 4) diabetic retinopathy; and 5) glaucoma. He is well-recognized by his peers both as a top ophthalmologist (voted Best Doctors in America) as well as a leading biomedical engineer. He is the Director of the National Science Foundation Biomimetic MicroElectronics Systems Engineering Research Center, a national center of excellence aimed at researching and developing micro and nanotechnology to mimic and replace damaged and diseased systems in the human body. He is also the Director of the Department of Energy Artificial Retina Project which is a unique consortium of five Department of Energy laboratories, five universities, as well as industry. He holds more than ten issued patents, and his work has spawned three companies to date. His research projects focus on the treatment of the most debilitating and challenging eye diseases through advanced engineering. Dr. Humayun is a member of 11 academic organizations including IEEE-EMBS, the Biomedical Engineering Society, the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, the American Society of Retinal Specialists, the Retina Society, the American Ophthalmological Society and the American Academy of Ophthalmology, and Biomedical Engineering in Medicine and Biology. He has also been a key member on a number of national academies panels. He has authored more than 100 peer-review papers and chapters. He has been invited to participate as a guest speaker an equally impressive number of times in more than 20 countries around the world. His work on the intraocular retinal prosthesis (Bartificial vision[) has been featured prominently in more than 500 newspapers and television programs, throughout the United States and abroad. For his contribution, he was named the Innovator of the year in 2005 by R&D Magazine.
Mark A. Liker graduated with a degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, where he also completed premedical requirements and earned his medical degree summa cum laude with Distinction in Research from the State University of New York. He his neurosurgery residency at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles (USC), where he earned a fellowship certificate in complex spine surgery. He created the Brain and Spine Center in order to introduce state-ofthe-art treatments for brain and spine disorders to the Santa Clarita Valley. He is a board-certified, accomplished Neurosurgeon specializing in complex brain and spinal techniques with a specific interest in minimally invasive brain and spine surgery. He provides advanced surgical techniques for brain tumors through either open surgery or gamma knife radiosurgery. He continues to participate in neuroscience research at USC, as well as neurosurgery education, as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery. He has authored over 40 journal publications, book chapters, and abstracts on a variety of neurosurgical topics. He has also addressed national and international audiences as an invited guest lecturer.
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