The University of Michigan has developed a 2.5mm x 3.5mm x 1mm (0.1” x 0.14” x 0.04”) sensor with its own solar power source that could provide the basis for ultra-small bio-medical implants, monitoring blood pressure in the eyes, brain and cancerous tumors.
The 9mm3 (0.0006 cubic inch) sensor has a 32-bit ARM Cortex-M3 processor, solar cells, and battery packaged into a device 1000 times smaller than existing commercial technology. The sensor could potentially be used in engineering and building construction to detect failures, or in air and water monitoring systems.
The sensor has a super-low average power consumption of less than 1 nanoW (a laser pointer consumes about 1mW, so this sensor uses one millionth the power of a laser pointer). With the thin-film 4v Cymbet battery providing power to the 0.5v sensor, the unstressed battery should last for many years, according to the researchers provided there is sufficient solar power or from other power generation within the human body such as motion.
Scott Hanson, a research fellow in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, is leading the process to develop a commercial version.
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