Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)

This work is done in collaboration with NeuroGate Medical.

TMS was introduced almost two decades ago and is a safe and non-invasive method of stimulating cortical neurons. This innovative new technique allows painless, non-invasive excitation of neural structures located deep in the body or covered by bone, such as the cortex, spinal nerve roots and the intracranial portion of the facial nerve. It has received wide attention and has been applied in many different areas, including the research of nervous system physiology in humans and the diagnosis, monitoring and therapy of nervous system dysfunction. The technique of transcranial magnetic stimulation is based on the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction, first described by Michael Faraday in 1831. So, if a very brief, but strong electric current is passed through a coil, it generates a time-varying magnetic field, which can induce a current in an adjacent volume conductor (Faraday’s law).

In the current research project, generation of focused very high intensity magnetic field (up to 4 T and higher) using novel electromagnet technologies is being investigated. The interaction between this strong magnetic field and the brain is simulated very accurately. A major focus in this research is complex coil configurations with deeper high intensity field region and intelligent waveform and pulse repetition adaptability.

Cancer Sniffer: A Millimeter-wave Reflectometer for Skin Cancer Prescreening

The main objective of this research project is to investigate and develop a simple proof-of-concept/testbed for a low-cost, compact, and portable device, “Cancer Sniffer”, for early-stage skin cancer detection. Millimeter-wave (mm-wave) reflectometry is an efficient technique for diagnosis of human tissue disease such as early stage skin cancer. The proposed device concept is based on measurement of electromagnetic wave reflection from the human skin at the mm-wave range of frequencies. Various non-invasive skin cancer detector (Cancer Sniffer) device ideas are studied, simulated, and possibly will be tested in a clinical environment.

 A Millimeter-wave Reflectometer for Skin Cancer Prescreening

 

Based on the results of this research, a comprehensive research proposal for developing a highly low-cost Cancer Sniffer with reliable performance for detecting the skin lesions such as the Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) are prepared. Mm-wave reflectometry is an efficient technique for diagnosis of human tissue disease such as early stage skin cancer.

Enabling Technologies for Intelligent Wireless Sensor Network for Mobile Health

Hearing loss is one of the most common physical and sensory impairments among all ages, especially seniors, in modern society. Since hearing loss has an asymmetrical nature and it may affect both ears at a different degree of impairment, each hearing aid device should be able to deal with such asymmetry of the ears, as well as the natural asymmetry induced by spectral sound differences. By using a pair of hearing aid devices, wirelessly communicating with each other, the binaural processing will be improved for the person who suffers from unbalanced hearing loss between the two ears and he/she can properly localize the sources of the sounds.

Main aspects of the project:

  • Bluetooth band (2.4GHz-2.5GHz).
  • Low power and miniaturization of antenna.
  • The presence of human head near hearing aid device makes the design more complicated.

Figure 1

Design of Low Power Wireless Hearing Aid Communication Systems:

Figure 2