Acoustic communication for medical nanorobots

Abstract

Communication among microscopic robots (nanorobots) can coordinate their activities for biomedical tasks. The feasibility of in vivo ultrasonic communication is evaluated for micronsize robots broadcasting into various types of tissues. Frequencies between 10 MHz and 300 MHz give the best tradeoff between efficient acoustic generation and attenuation for communication over distances of about 100 microns. Based on these results, we find power available from ambient oxygen and glucose in the bloodstream can readily support communication rates of about 10 4 bits/s between micron-sized robots. We discuss techniques, such as directional acoustic beams, that can increase this rate. The acoustic pressure fields enabling this communication are unlikely to damage nearby tissue, and short bursts at considerably higher power could be of therapeutic use.

The Advantages of Nanotechnology in Medical Field

“…Nano technology can make revolution in diagnostic and health care by Nano medicine devices. Those devices are small enough to reach every single cell in human body (Hogg, Freitas, & Robert, 2012) . There are two ways to design Nano devices.…”

Opto-ultrasonic communications in wireless body area nanonetworks

“…When the frequency range is higher than 10MHz, b has values close to 2, as in pure water. Therefore, the attenuation coefficient increases quadratically with frequency [10].…”

“…Several key aspects need to be considered to determine an optimal operating frequency for intra-body opto-ultrasonic communications. Specifically, (i) the attenuation coefficient increases with frequency; (ii) the beam spread of the generated ultrasonic waves is inversely proportional to the ratio of the diameter of the radiating element and the wavelength [8]; (iii) the ultrasonic power efficiency, defined as the fraction of excitation power that produces acoustic radiation (and is not dissipated against viscous forces), increases with frequency [10]; finally, (iv) the maximum achievable frequency of the optoacoustic source is limited by its size, as discussed in Section III. Therefore, one needs to operate at frequencies corresponding to the desired compromise between beam directivity and ultrasonic power efficiency, and that are at the same time compatible with the source dimension and the maximum tolerable attenuation.…”

“…In [10], the authors observed that for a 500 nm-radius nanorobot the transmission efficiency, i.e., the fraction of emitted power that reaches a distance of 100 µm, which depends on both the attenuation and the ultrasonic power efficiency, has a maximum around 150 MHz. Finally, as reported in Section III, the maximum achievable central frequency for a 500 nm-radium opto-ultrasonic source is approximately 500 MHz.…”

“…In [8], [9], we showed that ultrasonic waves have a strong potential to enable internetworking among devices implanted in the human body at communication ranges spanning from few µm to several cm; while in [10] the authors, based on consideration on the physics of ultrasound propagation, investigate the power requirements for acoustic communications between nanorobots across various distances and tissues. However, as of today and to best of our knowledge, no existing studies have explored the feasibility of ultrasonic wave generation and detection at the nanoscale for communication purposes.…”