Columbia Engineers develop the smallest single-chip system that is a complete functioning electronic circuit; implantable chips... that can be injected into the body with a hypodermic needle to monitor medical conditions.Researchers at Columbia Engineering report that they have built what they say is the world's smallest single-chip system, consuming a total volume of less than 0.1 mm3. The system is as small as a dust mite and visible only under a microscope. In order to achieve this, the team used ultrasound to both power and communicate with the device wirelessly. The study was published online May 7 in Science Advances.
“We wanted to see how far we could push the limits on how small a functioning chip we could make,” said the study’s leader Ken Shepard, Lau Family professor of electrical engineering and professor of biomedical engineering.
“This is a new idea of ‘chip as system’—this is a chip that alone, with
nothing else, is a complete functioning electronic system. This should
be revolutionary for developing wireless, miniaturized implantable
medical devices that can sense different things, be used in clinical
applications, and eventually approved for human use.” more
