Sensors with organic material that mimic the functioning of the brain

2023-06-22 14:45:44

A pioneering project will develop sensors with organic material that mimic the functioning of the brain. The devices, which adapt to the skin, will allow the detection and analysis of signals emitted by the human body and that provide information on different biological processes.

The Rovira i Virgili University (URV) of Tarragona participates with other European institutions in this pioneering project of neuromorphic computing, a field of computer science and neuroscience that focuses on the development of systems inspired by the functioning of the human brain.

The objective is to develop neuromorphic sensors with organic technology, based mainly on polymers. These devices can be very useful in the field of health, since they will allow the analysis, through a circuit that imitates the brain, of the data that arrives through biosignals, which are signals emitted by the human body and that provide information about different physiological processes of the organism. The Nephos research group, from the Department of Electronic, Electrical and Automatic Engineering, is working on this project.

One of the novelties of the project, which is called BAYFLEX, is the use of organic materials for all the components in the manufacture of the sensors, basically polymers. This will allow these devices to be low cost, sustainable, printable, flexible and adapt to the skin. “The sensors will detect the biosignals, which will reach a neural network of transistors and from there they will pass to a classifying circuit. Throughout this process, we will use organic materials to replace silicon, which is what is commonly used”, explains Benjamí Iñiguez, a URV researcher on this project.

The role of the URV in this research focuses on the analysis and evaluation of the electrical properties of the sensors, the modeling and design of their components and circuits, and also of the previous simulations before their manufacture.

The BAYFLEX project is funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe program and is part of Pathfinder, a very demanding subprogram that only accepts an average of 5% of the proposals submitted. “Projects have to be truly disruptive and have to have a very precise risk analysis and contingency plan,” says Iñiguez.

Benjamí Íñiguez. (Photo: URV)

Researchers from universities and research centers in France and Germany also participate in the study, as well as a company from Zaragoza.

Neuromorphic computing “is currently emerging and solves some of the problems posed by artificial intelligence, which using traditional computing has a very high consumption to use conventional hardware (based on the separation between memory and processing units), and also it uses rigid materials due to the fact that it is based on silicon”, explains the researcher. Iñiguez points out that, despite the fact that silicon provides more speed, in this case a very high speed is not required, since “what matters is that the signals are detected accurately, and this technology allows it to be done.” Thus, this “low cost and recyclable artificial intelligence”, as defined by the researcher, will be very useful and important in the field of health, when it comes to detecting and analyzing the signals emitted by the body. (Source: URV)