Optimization of the transmitter setup for a molecular communication link based on superparamagnetic iron nanoparticles

The search for innovative applications in the fields of biomedicine and nanotechnology benefit the further advance in molecular communication research. Nevertheless, a fullyfunctional artificial molecular system is not yet a reality. Institute for Electronics Engineering from FAU has developed an experimental molecular communication testbed based on magnetic nanoparticles, which has demonstrated to be effective in the transmission of bit sequences encoded by SPIONs. As part of this work, an optimization of the transmitter of this setup is implemented and tested. This optimization is based on the steering of SPIONs through a desired path after a splitting by use of the magnetic force generated by an electromagnet, which is located tactically in the proximity of the tubes where the nanoparticles flow. The electromagnet size has been selected in proportion to the tubes size of the system. Also, an electronic control circuit to switch automatically the electromagnet has been designed and mounted on a protoboard. Measuring of magnetic particles amount in the tubes of the system is accomplished using a susceptometer coil, an electronic device where the magnetic particles move through and generate an electrical signal. Experimental results for magnetic susceptibility changes in both channels after the Yconnector are presented. They have not been as expected, thus, recommendations in order to acquire more reliable measurements and further advancing in the presented research work are given.Outgoin

Channel modeling for diffusive molecular communication - a tutorial review

Molecular communication (MC) is a new communication engineering paradigm where molecules are employed as information carriers. MC systems are expected to enable new revolutionary applications such as sensing of target substances in biotechnology, smart drug delivery in medicine, and monitoring of oil pipelines or chemical reactors in industrial settings. As for any other kind of communication, simple yet sufficiently accurate channel models are needed for the design, analysis, and efficient operation of MC systems. In this paper, we provide a tutorial review on mathematical channel modeling for diffusive MC systems. The considered end-to-end MC channel models incorporate the effects of the release mechanism, the MC environment, and the reception mechanism on the observed information molecules. Thereby, the various existing models for the different components of an MC system are presented under a common framework and the underlying biological, chemical, and physical phenomena are discussed. Deterministic models characterizing the expected number of molecules observed at the receiver and statistical models characterizing the actual number of observed molecules are developed. In addition, we provide channel models for timevarying MC systems with moving transmitters and receivers, which are relevant for advanced applications such as smart drug delivery with mobile nanomachines. For complex scenarios, where simple MC channel models cannot be obtained from first principles, we investigate simulation-driven and experiment-driven channel models. Finally, we provide a detailed discussion of potential challenges, open research problems, and future directions in channel modeling for diffusive MC systems

Channel Modeling for Diffusive Molecular Communication - A Tutorial Review

Molecular communication (MC) is a new communication engineering paradigm where molecules are employed as information carriers. MC systems are expected to enable new revolutionary applications such as sensing of target substances in biotechnology, smart drug delivery in medicine, and monitoring of oil pipelines or chemical reactors in industrial settings. As for any other kind of communication, simple yet sufficiently accurate channel models are needed for the design, analysis, and efficient operation of MC systems. In this paper, we provide a tutorial review on mathematical channel modeling for diffusive MC systems. The considered end-to-end MC channel models incorporate the effects of the release mechanism, the MC environment, and the reception mechanism on the observed information molecules. Thereby, the various existing models for the different components of an MC system are presented under a common framework and the underlying biological, chemical, and physical phenomena are discussed. Deterministic models characterizing the expected number of molecules observed at the receiver and statistical models characterizing the actual number of observed molecules are developed. In addition, we provide channel models for time-varying MC systems with moving transmitters and receivers, which are relevant for advanced applications such as smart drug delivery with mobile nanomachines. For complex scenarios, where simple MC channel models cannot be obtained from first principles, we investigate simulation-driven and experimentally-driven channel models. Finally, we provide a detailed discussion of potential challenges, open research problems, and future directions in channel modeling for diffusive MC systems.Comment: 40 pages; 23 figures, 2 tables; this paper is submitted to the Proceedings of IEE

Engineering Yeast Cells to Facilitate Information Exchange

Although continuous advances in theoretical modelling of Molecular Communications (MC) are observed, there is still an insuperable gap between theory and experimental testbeds, especially at the microscale. In this paper, the development of the first testbed incorporating engineered yeast cells is reported. Different from the existing literature, eukaryotic yeast cells are considered for both the sender and the receiver, with {\alpha}-factor molecules facilitating the information transfer. The use of such cells is motivated mainly by the well understood biological mechanism of yeast mating, together with their genetic amenability. In addition, recent advances in yeast biosensing establish yeast as a suitable detector and a neat interface to in-body sensor networks. The system under consideration is presented first, and the mathematical models of the underlying biological processes leading to an end-to-end (E2E) system are given. The experimental setup is then described and used to obtain experimental results which validate the developed mathematical models. Beyond that, the ability of the system to effectively generate output pulses in response to repeated stimuli is demonstrated, reporting one event per two hours. However, fast RNA fluctuations indicate cell responses in less than three minutes, demonstrating the potential for much higher rates in the future.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures (2 of which are not colored) all .png, recently accepted for publication at TMBM

Modeling duct flow for molecular communication

Active transport such as fluid flow is sought in molecular communication to extend coverage, improve reliability, and mitigate interference. Flow models are often over-simplified, assuming one-dimensional diffusion with constant drift. However, diffusion and flow are usually encountered in three-dimensional bounded environments where the flow is highly non-uniform such as in blood vessels or microfluidic channels. For a qualitative understanding of the relevant physical effects inherent to these channels, based on the Peclet number and the transmitter-receiver distance, we study when simplified models of uniform flow and advection-only transport are applicable. For these two regimes, analytical expressions for the channel impulse response are derived and validated by particle-based simulation. Furthermore, as advection-only transport is typically overlooked and hence not analyzed in the molecular communication literature, we evaluate the symbol error rate for exemplary on-off keying as performance metric

Fabrication and microfluidic analysis of graphene-based molecular communication receiver for Internet of Nano Things (IoNT).

Bio-inspired molecular communications (MC), where molecules are used to transfer information, is the most promising technique to realise the Internet of Nano Things (IoNT), thanks to its inherent biocompatibility, energy-efficiency, and reliability in physiologically-relevant environments. Despite a substantial body of theoretical work concerning MC, the lack of practical micro/nanoscale MC devices and MC testbeds has led researchers to make overly simplifying assumptions about the implications of the channel conditions and the physical architectures of the practical transceivers in developing theoretical models and devising communication methods for MC. On the other hand, MC imposes unique challenges resulting from the highly complex, nonlinear, time-varying channel properties that cannot be always tackled by conventional information and communication tools and technologies (ICT). As a result, the reliability of the existing MC methods, which are mostly adopted from electromagnetic communications and not validated with practical testbeds, is highly questionable. As the first step to remove this discrepancy, in this study, we report on the fabrication of a nanoscale MC receiver based on graphene field-effect transistor biosensors. We perform its ICT characterisation in a custom-designed microfluidic MC system with the information encoded into the concentration of single-stranded DNA molecules. This experimental platform is the first practical implementation of a micro/nanoscale MC system with nanoscale MC receivers, and can serve as a testbed for developing realistic MC methods and IoNT applications.Tis work was supported in part by the ERC (Project MINERVA, ERC-2013-CoG #616922) and by the AXA Research Fund (AXA Chair for Internet of Everything at Koc University)

Duality between Coronavirus Transmission and Air-based Macroscopic Molecular Communication

This contribution exploits the duality between a viral infection process and macroscopic air-based molecular communication. Airborne aerosol and droplet transmission through human respiratory processes is modeled as an instance of a multiuser molecular communication scenario employing respiratory-event-driven molecular variable-concentration shift keying. Modeling is aided by experiments that are motivated by a macroscopic air-based molecular communication testbed. In artificially induced coughs, a saturated aqueous solution containing a fluorescent dye mixed with saliva is released by an adult test person. The emitted particles are made visible by means of optical detection exploiting the fluorescent dye. The number of particles recorded is significantly higher in test series without mouth and nose protection than in those with a wellfitting medical mask. A simulation tool for macroscopic molecular communication processes is extended and used for estimating the transmission of infectious aerosols in different environments. Towards this goal, parameters obtained through self experiments are taken. The work is inspired by the recent outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, submitted to IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological, and Multi-Scale Communications for the special issue "Section II: Molecular Communications for Diagnostics and Therapeutic Development of Infectious Diseases