Spiral-Shaped Piezoelectric MEMS Cantilever Array for Fully Implantable Hearing Systems

Fully implantable, self-powered hearing aids with no external unit could significantly increase the life quality of patients suffering severe hearing loss. This highly demanding concept, however, requires a strongly miniaturized device which is fully implantable in the middle/inner ear and includes the following components: frequency selective microphone or accelerometer, energy harvesting device, speech processor, and cochlear multielectrode. Here we demonstrate a low volume, piezoelectric micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) cantilever array which is sensitive, even in the lower part of the voice frequency range (300–700 Hz). The test array consisting of 16 cantilevers has been fabricated by standard bulk micromachining using a Si-on-Insulator (SOI) wafer and aluminum nitride (AlN) as a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) and biocompatible piezoelectric material. The low frequency and low device footprint are ensured by Archimedean spiral geometry and Si seismic mass. Experimentally detected resonance frequencies were validated by an analytical model. The generated open circuit voltage (3–10 mV) is sufficient for the direct analog conversion of the signals for cochlear multielectrode implants

Mechanical Characterization of Two-Segment Free-Standing ZnO Nanowires Using Lateral Force Microscopy

Mechanical characterization of quasi one-dimensional nanostructures is essential for the design of novel nanoelectromechanical systems. However, the results obtained on basic mechanical quantities, such as Young’s modulus and fracture strength, show significant standard deviation in the literature. This is partly because of diversity in the quality of the nanowire, and partly because of inappropriately performed mechanical tests and simplified mechanical models. Here we present orientation-controlled bending and fracture studies on wet chemically grown vertical ZnO nanowires, using lateral force microscopy. The lateral force signal of the atomic force microscope was calibrated by a diamagnetic levitation spring system. By acquiring the bending curves of 14 nanowires, and applying a two-segment mechanical model, an average bending modulus of 108 ± 17 GPa was obtained, which was 23% lower than the Young’s modulus of bulk ZnO in the [0001] direction. It was also found that the average fracture strain and stress inside the nanowire was above 3.1 ± 0.3 % and 3.3 ± 0.3 GPa, respectively. However, the fracture of the nanowires was governed by the quality of the nanowire/substrate interface. The demonstrated technique is a relatively simple and productive way for the accurate mechanical characterization of vertical nanowire arrays

Energy Harvesting Powered Wireless Vibration Analyser

In this work we present a complex, wireless, ambient energy powered and easy-to-use solution for vibration analysis. It is designed to incorporate the latest commercial technologies and achievements in the field of energy harvesting and wireless sensor networks with an emphasis on energy efficient spectrum estimation algorithms for embedded systems. This solution is realized on a small printed circuit board and contains all the necessary circuit components for hybrid energy harvesting; acceleration sensing; data acquisition, storing and analysis; and wireless communication. The on-board microcontroller was programmed to choose the most energy-efficient data handling algorithm (direct transfer or embedded analysis) based on the weighed combination of user settings and ambient energy. We tested and calibrated our system in laboratory environment with reference sensors, as well as in an engine room, simulating practical applications

Road abnormality detection using piezoresistive force sensors and adaptive signal models

Intelligent tires can be used for a wide array of applications ranging from tire pressure monitoring to analyzing tire/road interactions, wheel loading, and tread wear monitoring. In this article, we develop a measurement system for intelligent tires equipped with a 3-D piezoresistive force sensor. The output of the sensor is segmented into tire revolution cycles, which are then represented by a transformation relying on adaptive Hermite functions. The underlying idea behind this step is to extract relevant features which capture tire dynamics. Then we evaluate the proposed measurement system in a potential vehicle application, that is, abnormal road surface detection. We deal with the corresponding binary classification problem by developing both low-complexity analytical and data-driven machine learning algorithms, which are tested on real-world measurement data. Our experiments showed that the proposed methods are able to detect abnormalities on the road surface with a mean accuracy of over 97%

Low-Frequency Piezoelectric Accelerometer Array for Fully Implantable Cochlear Implants

We demonstrate a low-volume, stress-free, piezoelectric micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) cantilever array for fully implantable hearing aids. The 12-element spiral-matrix is sensitive to the lower part of audible frequency range (300⁻700 Hz) through the proper resonant frequency of the individual spirals tuned by dimensions of the cantilevers. The obtained high Q-factors (117⁻254) provide high frequency selectivity. The generated open circuit voltage signals could be sufficient for the direct analog conversion of the signals for cochlear multielectrode implants. By comparing different geometries we have also demonstrated that the initial stress, which is derived from silicon-dioxide (SiO2) and aluminum-nitride (AlN) layers, could be drastically reduced simply by the spiral geometry. The results of vibration measurements have shown a good agreement with the calculated resonant frequencies

Magyar Tanítóképző 13 (1898) 04

Magyar Tanítóképző A Tanítóképző-intézeti Tanárok Országos Egyesületének közlönye 13. évfolyam, 4. füzet Budapest, 1898. április h

Magyar Tanítóképző 15 (1900) 03

Magyar Tanítóképző A Tanítóképző-intézeti Tanárok Országos Egyesületének közlönye 15. évfolyam, 03. füzet Budapest, 1900. márczius h