www.nature.

com/scientificreports

Figure 1 | Experimental apparatus scheme of a BTBI for transferring cortical motor signals. Arrows represent the flow of information from the
encoder to the decoder rat. In the motor task, the encoder rat has to identify a visual stimulus, signaled by an LED (red circle), and then press one of two
levers to receive a small water reward. Meanwhile, M1 neural activity is recorded from the encoder rat and transmitted to the decoder animal, by
comparing the pattern of the encoders M1 to a template trial (previously built with the firing rate average of a trial sample). The difference between the
number of spikes in a given trial and the template trial is used to calculate a Zscore. The Zscore is then converted, through a sigmoid function centered on
the mean of the template trial, into an ICMS pattern. Thus, the microstimulation patterns varied in real time, according to the number of spikes recorded
from the encoder rats M1, on a trial by trial basis. Once microstimulation is delivered to the M1 cortex of the decoder rat, this animal has to select the same
lever pressed by the encoder. Notice that the correct lever to press is cued only by the pattern of the decoders M1 microstimulation. If the decoder rat
pressed the correct lever, both rats were rewarded. Thus, when the information transfer between the brains of the two rats was successful, the encoder rat
received an additional reward that served as positive reinforcement.

performance level. After this preliminary training was completed, the

animals were run in pairs, each one in a separate operant box.
The next phase of training began with the encoder rat performing
,10 trials of the motor or tactile task, which were used to construct a
cortical ensemble template, i.e. the mean cortical neuronal activity
for one of the responses. The increased firing rate associated with the
right lever press was selected as the parameter extracted from the
neuronal ensemble in the motor task. The increased firing rate associated with the Narrow trials was selected as the parameter extracted
from the neuronal ensemble in the tactile task. A BTBI session followed in which ICMS trains applied to the cortex of the decoder rat
reflected the difference between the template and single-trial neuronal ensemble rates produced by a sample of the encoder rats M1 or
S1 activity. ICMS duration (i.e. number of pulses delivered) was
proportional to the difference between the sampled neuronal
ensemble firing rate recorded during a given trial and the template
normalized by the standard deviation. The time window for the
analysis of neuronal activity and ICMS parameters was adjusted in
each recording session to maximize the directional signal. The
decoder rats reacted to ICMS patterns and not any other cues, as
was evident from control experiments in which the performance of
those rats dropped to chance level after the ICMS cable was disconnected from the stimulator. Furthermore, the encoder rat received
feedback information describing the single trial performance of the
decoder rat; each time the decoder rat responded correctly to the
ICMS cue, the encoder rat received an additional reward (i.e. water).
In experiment 1 (Figure 1), encoder rats (N 5 3) pressed one of
two levers after an LED on top of the lever was turned on. While the
rats did so, M1 neuronal activity was recorded, compared to the
template and transformed into ICMS trains applied to M1 of the
decoder rats (N 5 4) who performed the same lever press task. As
would be expected, the encoder rats performed better (95.87% 6 1.83
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS | 3 : 1319 | DOI: 10.1038/srep01319

correct trials) (Figure 2 A) than the decoder rats (64.32 6 1.1%;

range: 60 72% correct trials; Binomial test: P , 0.05 in all sessions)
(Figure 2 A and B). Yet, the performance of the decoder animals was
above chance and highly significant. Indeed, in some experiments the
decoder rats performance using the BTBI was very close to the
maximum performance obtained when ICMS was used alone in
these animals (72% BTBI vs 78% ICMS alone, see above).
The primary factor that influenced the decoder rats performance
was the quality of spatial information extracted from the encoder
rats M1. The performance was high if the chosen neuronal ensemble
accurately encoded left versus right presses (Figure 2 C and Figure 3
AD). The higher the deviation from the template and hence the
larger the duration of the ICMS (i.e. number of pulses delivered), the
better was the decoder rats performance (Figure 2 C and 3 BD). For
this first experiment, a total of 538 units and 110 multiunits were
recorded from encoder rats. Sessions were comprised of 48.04 6
1.5 trials. The response latency of the encoder rats was 20.06 6
1.0 seconds, while decoder animals responded at 13.59 6 0.5 seconds. Note that this difference reflects only the effect of both rats
working as a dyad (see below for comparison of latencies during
training and testing).
In addition to the neuronal transfer from the encoder to the
decoder rats, feedback information, related to the decoder rats performance, was sent back to the encoder animal. This feedback provided an additional reward to the encoder rat every time the decoder
rat performed a trial correctly. Under these conditions, the encoder
rats response latency decreased after the decoder rat made an error
(after correct response: 20.67 6 1.665 seconds and after an incorrect
response 5 15.26 6 2.031 seconds; Mann Whitney U 5 13570; P ,
0.0001). Furthermore, an analysis of the variation in Z-scores,
demonstrated that the signal to noise ratio of the neural activity
extracted from the encoder rats M1 increased after the decoder rat
2

Conscious, Non-Invasive Brain-to-Brain Communication in Humans

15 years, technologies for non-invasive transmission of information

from brains to computers have developed considerably, and today
brain-computer interfaces embody a well-established, innovative
field of study with many potential applications [1216]. Recent
work has demonstrated fully non-invasive human to rat B2B
communication by combining motor imagery driven EEG in
humans on the BCI side with ultrasound brain stimulation on the
CBI-rat side [17]. However, the realization of non-invasive CBI in
humans remains elusive, and adequate methodologies to provide
computer-mediated non-invasive brain conscious interventions are
lacking. Here we show how to link two human minds directly by
integrating two neurotechnologies BCI and CBI , fulfilling
three important conditions, namely a) being non-invasive, b)
cortically based, and c) consciously driven (Fig. 1). In this
framework we provide the first demonstration of non-invasive
direct communication between human minds.

Methods Summary
The computer-mediated brain-to-brain transmission from
Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala state, India) (BCI side) to Strasbourg, France (CBI) was realized using internet-linked EEG and
TMS technologies respectively. On the CBI side, three information receiver subjects were stimulated with biphasic TMS pulses at
a subject-specific occipital cortex site. The intensity of pulses was
adjusted for each subject so that a) one particular orientation of the
TMS-induced electric field produced phosphenes [19] (representing the active direction and coding the bit value 1), and b) the
orthogonal direction did not produce phosphenes (representing the
silent direction and coding the bit value 0). Subjects reported
verbally whether or not they perceived phosphenes on stimulation.
A fourth subject acted as emitter of information using a BCI system
based on motor imagery (of moving feet or hands) to select two
kinds of states in EEG spectral power in the motor cortex (coding
for the bit values of 0 and 1). We ensured that receiver
subjects were not relying on peripheral nervous system (PNS) cues
(visual, tactile and auditory sensations produced by the TMS
device) to decode the information by blocking sensory cues: we
used a force sensor on the coil to maintain a constant contact
pressure on the scalp, implemented a coil rotation information
encoding strategy (as opposed to one relying on coil location), and
had subjects wear eye mask and earplugs. We verified the
effectiveness of these means in series of d-prime control experiments [2022] comparing pairs of stimuli delivered either with the
same or different orientations of the coil. Finally, as performance
measures for the BCI, CBI and B2B system we analyzed error
transmission rates and transmission speed (bits per minute).

Materials and Methods

Human Subjects
Four healthy participants (age range 2850) were recruited, and
their informed written consent was obtained. Of the four subjects,
one was assigned to the BCI branch (the emitter - Subject 1) and
the other three to the CBI branch of the experiments (i.e., as
receivers - Subjects 2, 3 and 4).

Ethics Statement
The Ethics Committee of the University of Barcelona, following
the Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human
Subjects of the WMA Declaration of Helsinki, approved this study.
The TMS part of the experiments was conducted according to
TMS safety guidelines [18]. The individuals in this manuscript
gave their written informed consent (as outlined in the PLOS
consent form) to publish these case details.

Brain-Computer Interface
The BCI communication subsystem used in our experiments
converted conscious voluntary motor imagery into brain activity
changes that could be captured non-invasively as physical signals

Figure 1. Brain-to-brain (B2B) communication system overview. On the left, the BCI subsystem is shown schematically, including electrodes
over the motor cortex and the EEG amplifier/transmitter wireless box in the cap. Motor imagery of the feet codes the bit value 0, of the hands codes
bit value 1. On the right, the CBI system is illustrated, highlighting the role of coil orientation for encoding the two bit values. Communication
between the BCI and CBI components is mediated by the internet.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0105225.g001

PLOS ONE | www.plosone.org

August 2014 | Volume 9 | Issue 8 | e105225

International Scholarly Research Network

ISRN Nanotechnology
Volume 2012, Article ID 102783, 9 pages
doi:10.5402/2012/102783

Review Article
A CNTFET-Based Nanowired Induction Two-Way Transducers
Rostyslav Sklyar
Verchratskogo st. 15-1, Lviv 79010, Ukraine
Correspondence should be addressed to Rostyslav Sklyar, sklyar@tsp.lviv.ua
Received 15 December 2011; Accepted 28 February 2012
Academic Editors: C. A. Charitidis and J. Sha
Copyright 2012 Rostyslav Sklyar. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License,
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
A complex of the induction magnetic field two-way nanotransducers of the dierent physical values for both the external and
implantable interfaces in a wide range of arrays are summarized. Implementation of the nanowires allows reliable transducing of
the biosignals partials and bringing of carbon nanotubes into circuits leading to examination of the superconducting transition.
Novel sensors are based on the induction magnetic field principle, which causes their interaction with an ambient EM field.
Mathematical description of both the signal and mediums defines space embracing of the relevant interfacing devices. As a result,
a wide range of the nano-bio-transducers allow both delivering the variety of ionized biosignals and interface the bioEM signals
with further stages of electronic systems. The space coverage and transducing values properties of the state-of-the-art magnetic
interfaces are summarized, and directions for their future development are deduced.

1. Introduction: Biophysical Signals,

Transducing, and Interface Applications
A biosensor is a device that incorporates a biologically active
layer as the recognition element and converts the physical
parameters of the biological interaction into a measurable
analytical signal [1]. Understanding of biosignals (BS)
nature and properties of their mediums are a basis for
eective design of magnetic interfaces (MIs). Rapid progress
in the advancement of several key science areas including
nanoscale interfaces has stimulated the development of
electronic sensor technologies applicable to many diverse
areas of human activity. For example, the conceptualization
and production of electronic nose devices have resulted in
the creation of a remarkable new sector of sensor technology
resulting from the invention of numerous new types of
olfactory-competent electronic sensors and sensor arrays [2].
The growing variety of biosensors can be grouped into
two categories: implantable and external. In turn, the last one
has two existing paradigms: wearable sensor and noncontact
sensor. A wearable sensor had potential to be intrusive,
and noncontact sensor methods may still be intrusiveness
to a certain extent, while a noncontact sensor is limited in
its capability of acquiring physiological signals [3]. Voltage
potentials of the living organism and its organs are measured

by both implantable and external electric field probes of high

sensitivity [4]. Information on organ activity is obtained
by measuring biomagnetic signals. For such purposes a
multichannel high-temperature superconducting quantum
interference device (high Tc SQUID) system for magnetocardiography (MCG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG)
of humans, with high magnetic field resolution, has been
developed [5, 6].
The most current sensing devices give us the possibility
to receive a full scale of both the internal and external
control BS. The internal ones are picking up by polymeric
microprobes, CMOS chips, and nanoneedles, while the
external by electromyography and neuroprosthetic (electroencephalogram (EEG) and MEG) systems. Improving an
informational capability of the interface is implemented by
the application of the advanced superconducting transducer
and electromagnetic (EM) transistor/memristor [7, 8]. These
elements are arranged into the arrays of a dierent configurations and can cover the order of spaces from macro- to
nanolevels.
There are a number of methods and devices for transducing dierent BS into recordable or measurable information.
The transfer of nerve impulses (NI) is the main data flow
that carries sensory information to the brain and control
signals from it and from the spinal cord to the limbs.

2
Moreover, the complex view on BS requires further stages of
precise processing in order to decode the received or control
information. There are dierent kinds of transducers/sensors
for picking up NI: room-temperature and superconducting,
external, and implantable. Development of such devices
is increasing the penetration into bioprocess while simultaneously simplifying the exploitation of the measuring
systems in order to bring them closer to the wide range
of applications. For this reason, the magnetometer with a
room-temperature pickup coil (PC) for detecting signals,
which can clearly be detected in higher frequency range, was
developed in order to simplify the SQUID system. The PC is
set outside the cryostat and is connected to the input coil of
the SQUID [9] or a channel of superconducting field-eect
transistor (SuFET) [10]. On the other hand, implantableinto-nerve fiber transducers are evolving from the ordinary
Si-chip microelectronics devices [11] into superconducting
and nanodevices [12, 13].
The recent achievements in nanoelectronics can be
regarded as a further step in the progress of BS transduction.
They give us the possibility to create the most advanced
and universal device on the basis of known microsystems.
Such a sensor/transducer is suitable for picking up BS
NI, electrically active (ionized) molecules, and the basepair recognition event in DNA sequencesand transforming
it into recognizable information in the form of electric
voltage, or a concentration of organic or chemical substances.
Moreover, this process can be executed in reverse. Substances
and/or voltages influence BSs, thereby controling or creating
them (BS) [14]. Steady and rapid progress in the robotics
field requires ever quicker and better human-machine interaction and the development of a new generation of interfaces
for intelligent systems. Such advances give rise to markedly
increased biophysical research on the one hand and the need
for new bioelectronic devices on the other. Transduction
and measurement of BS are key elements of MIs design.
There are two means involved in signal transduction: (1)
biochemicalby hormones and enzymes; (2) biophysical
by nerve impulses (ionic currents). Let us consider the
biophysical ones as useful for the said interfaces design above.
There are two valuesvoltage and electric currentwhich
characterize the pathway of transduction [15].
Calculations of PC arrays were performed with the
primary sensor flux transformer sites distributed uniformly
on a spherical sensor shell, extending from the vertex to
a maximum angle max [16]. The radial magnetometers
and gradiometers occupy one site each, there are two
orthogonal planar gradiometers at each site and there are
three orthogonal magnetometers at each site for vector
magnetometers. Coverage can be achieved by designing some
kind of density control mechanism, that is, scheduling the
sensors to work alternatively to minimize the power wastage
due to the overlap of active nodes sensing areas. The sensing
area of a node is a disk of a given radius (sensing range). The
sensing energy consumption is proportional to the area of
sensing disks or the power consumption per unit [17].
There are two broad ways of brain-computer interface
(BCI): invasive and noninvasive. The invasive technique can
capture intracortical action potentials of neurons and thus,

ISRN Nanotechnology
provides high signal strength spatiotemporally, for example,
prediction of movement trajectory. In noninvasive technique, EEG and MEG have emerged as viable options; both
of them have time resolutions in milliseconds. Any activity
in brain is accompanied by change in ionic concentrations in
neuron leading to polarization and depolarization. Such an
electrical activity is measured by EEG, while MEG measures
the magnetic field associated with these currents. Electric and
magnetic fields are oriented perpendicular to each other [18].
Application of organic-, chemical-, and carbonnanotubes- (CNT-) based FETs for design of the
superconducting transducers (SuFETTrs) of BS into
dierent quantities (electrical and biochemical) is the
proposed variant of interfacing [19]. The placement of the
devices can be carried out both in vivo and in vitro with
the possibility of forming the controlling BS from the said
quantities. The range of picked up BS varies from 0.6 nA to
10 A with frequencies from 20 to 2000 Hz.
A further step should be the synthesis of the said two
methods in order to develop the internal (implantable)
nano-bio-interface arrays. This means wrapping of molecular nanowired PC around the axons of a nerve fibre or
synapses of neurons in order to obtain the natural biosignals
from the nervous system and brain. This leads to sensing
access across a vast range of spatial and temporal scales,
including the ability to read neural signals from a select
subset of single neural cells in vivo. Moreover, this process
can be executed in reverse for introducing the artificial
control signals with the local neural code into the single cell
electrical activity.

2. Biosignals and Nanoelements for Their

Transduction
As an electrical signal, the biosignal has two components:
electrical potential or voltage and ionic or electronic currents. The first component is suciently developed and
does not require penetration into the substances of biosignal
propagation. The marketable progress in transducing of the
second component began when the necessary instrumentation for measurement of micro- and nanodimensions had
been created [14].
Short platinum nanowires (NWs) already have been
used in submicroscopic sensors and other applications. A
method of making long (cm) Pt NW of a few nanometers
in diameter from electrospinning was described [20]. Those
wires could be woven into the first self-supporting webs of
pure platinum. Double-gated silicon NW structures (DGSiNW), where the position and/or type of the charge could
be tuned within the NW by electric field, have been studied
[21]. Self-assembled molecular nanowires were found to
be composed of a single crystal, allowing good electrical
transport with low resistivity [22].
An interesting structure is that of helical CNT or
nanocoils for PCs. Nanocoils oer unique electronic properties that straight CNT do not have. The plasticity of
CNT will be relevant to their use in nanoscale devices [23].
Carbon nanocoils (CNCs), as a new type of promising

ISRN Nanotechnology
nanomaterials, have attracted considerable attention because
of their potential applications, such as parts for nanoor micro-electromechanical systems, EM wave absorbers,
reinforced composites, nanosolenoids, and field emission
devices [24]
Integrated CMOS image sensor device for in vivo
neural imaging has been developed. Improvement in the
packaging process has resulted in a compact single-chip
device for minimally invasive imaging inside the mouse
brain [25]. Application of the SuFETs modifications such
as CMOSuFET (low Tc ) [26] and coplanar SuFET (high
Tc ) [27] broadens the range of requirements, which are
being satisfied by the SuFETTr. Alternatively, an FET-based
neurotransducer with CNT or PC kind of input circuit
for the nerve and neuron impulse has been designed. A
CNTFET with a high-temperature superconducting channel
is introduced into the nerve fibre or brain tissue for
transducing their signals in both directions [28].
Flexible antennas have the potential to enhance the
emerging field of flexible electronics, which is primarily
motivated by the desire to incorporate electronics into
flexible substrates such as textiles, displays, and bandages
[29]. The ability to reversibly deform antennas may also
enable new capabilities (e.g., rolling and unrolling for remote
deployment, enhanced durability). Relative to conventional
copper antennas, fluidic antennas have several advantages
[30]. Furthermore, it has been shown that ultrathin layers
of metal can display superconductivity, but any limits on
the size of superconducting systems remain a mystery.
On the other hand, (BETS) 2GaCl4, where BETS is bis
(ethylenedithio) tetraselenafulvalene, is an organic superconductor, and in bulk it displays a superconducting gap
that increases exponentially with the length of the molecular
chain [31].
Graphene-solution-gated FET (G-SGFET) fabricated on
copper foil oers outstanding electronic performance, is
chemically stable and biologically inert, and can readily be
processed on flexible substrates. Not only were the action
potentials of individual cells detectable above the intrinsic
electrical noise of the transistors, but these cellular signals
could be recorded with high spatial and temporal resolution.
The analysis of the recorded cell signals and the electronic
noise of the transistors confirm that graphene transistors
surpass state-of-the-art devices for bioelectronic applications
[32].
An organic FET (OFET) is characterized by textile
process fully compatible size and geometry. This transistor
has shown very interesting performances, with typical values
of the electronic parameters very similar to those of planar
devices. This result is very promising in view of innovative
applications in the field of smart textiles [33]. Also FETs with
single- and doublewire channels (NWFET) were fabricated
to give some indication of the potential application of
the molecular wires [22]. Finally, inkjet-printed FETs using
carboxyl-functionalized nanotubes as source, drain, and
gate electrodes, poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG-) functionalized
nanotubes as the channel, and PEG as the gate dielectric
were also tested and characterized. Considerable nonlinear
transport in conjunction with a high channel current on/o

M+

Delivery
M+

M+
D

M
G
M

CNT

Vout/in
M

S
Diagnostic

Figure 1: Diagnostics of the biomedium with the necessary drugs

delivering.

ratio of 70 was observed with PEG-functionalized nanotubes.

The positive temperature coecient of channel resistance
shows the nonmetallic behavior of the inkjet-printed films
[34].
Finally, FETs with single- and doublewire channels
were fabricated to give some indication of the potential
application of the molecular wires. Substantial progress has
been made in defining the performance limits and exploring
applications based on NWFETs [22]. A five-channel FET
structure is composed of two double-gate transistors and a
bottom single-gate transistor on a silicon-on-insulator. 3D
transistor structures such as multiple-gate FETs have been
proposed and extensively studied as a promising solution to
overcome the scaling limitations of planar bulk devices. They
oer excellent multigate control of the channels and higher
current drive [35]. In high-performance n-channel OFETs,
charge carrier injection at the interface between the organic
film and source/drain electrodes plays a crucial role [36].

3. An SuFETTr-Based
Devices

Magnetic

Interface

The advent of semiconductor devices with nanoscale dimensions creates the potential to integrate nanoelectronics and
optoelectronic devices with a great variety of biological
systems. In such a case, it is possible to substitute the
microcomputer in an object-oriented problem solution
scheme by the natural processing organ-brain or spinal cord.
As a result, the software component will be eliminated and
the most general characterization of the measurement problem in one-coordinate-dimensional measurements could be
acquired naturally, according to the feedback reaction on the
input exposure. Moreover, the organs of the senses of living
beings could be regarded in the same way as the natural

ISRN Nanotechnology

Myelin
Channels ibio
Vout/in

NI

Ionic currents
H
P

Gate

SuFET

(a)

Axons

Figure 2: Transducing of the nerve impulses and introducing of the

relevant artificial signals [15].

(b)

(c)

B2a

B2b

B1a

B1b

(d)

(e)

B0a

B0b

Figure 3: PC for two-dimensional gradiometer that detects both

axial-second-order gradient and planar-first-order gradient of MF
[37]. Copyright 2007 The Japan Society of Applied Physics.

biosensors of the relevant physical and chemical quantities

[19, 39].
The proposal to measure the biosignal values of dierent
origins with advanced nanosensors of EM quantities is
justified when allowing for superconducting abilities of the
devices. They are composed in full-scale arrays. The said
arrays can be both implantable into ionic channels of an
organism and sheathed on the sources of the EM emanation.
Nanowired head sensors function both in passive mode for
picking up the biosignals and with additional excitation of a
defined biomedium through the same head (in reverse) [40
42].
3.1. The Arrangements of a NanoFET-Based Delivery and
Transducing. The advances in nanotechnology are opening

Figure 4: Comparison of the discrete geometry of three selfassembly models. (a) Unfolding an HP chain. (b)(d) Several
representations of unfolding a cube [38]. Copyright 2011 National
Academy of Sciences, USA.

the way to achieving direct electrical contact of nanoelectronic structures with electrically and electrochemically active subcellular structures, including ion channels,
receptors, and transmembrane proteins. The method of
combining the bioelectric nature of the nerve impulses NI
and synaptic currents between neighboring neurons with
body-temperature PC and zero-resistance-CNT-based input
of the SuFET device in order to obtain most advantageous
biosensor/transducer was recently advanced [43]. On the
other hand, neuroelectronic systems for two-way interfacing
of the neuronal and the electronic components by capacitive
contacts and by FETs with an open gate were developed.
A nanoSuFET with a high-temperature superconducting
channel is introduced into the nerve fibre or brain tissue for
transducing their signals in both directions.
Such a sensor/actuator is suitable for picking up BSNI
and electrically active (ionized) moleculesand transforming it into recognizable information in the form of electric

ISRN Nanotechnology

Brain, spin. cord

Tensor
Vector
Coil

Space dimens.

AND

Output

OR

Interface

Input

Array

Membrane

Scalar
Plane

Channel

Curve
Line
Processor

Figure 5: Interaction of the natural and artificial processing bodies

trough a SuFETTr-based interface.

voltage, or a concentration of organic or chemical substances

(Figure 1). Moreover, this process can be executed in reverse.
Substances and/or voltages influence BS, thereby controlling
or creating the said media (Figure 2).
As a result, we have achieved SuFETTr that is suitable for
ascertaining the variety of values. Two directions of SuFETTr
function enable decoding of the NI by comparing the result
of its reaction on some process or organ with an action on
them of the simulated electrical or biochemical signal after
their reverse transducing through the SuFETTr(s) [44].
3.2. Arrangement of PSs in Arrays. An MF sensing array
consists of primary sensors and, optionally, reference sensors.
Primary sensors use flux transformers located in a close
proximity to the scalp or chest surface, where they couple to
the brains or hearts MFs, respectively [7, 45]. The reference
sensors are used to subtract the environmental noise from the
primary sensor outputs. The flux transformer design dictates
its relative sensitivity to near and distant sources. Thus, the
primary flux transformers can, in addition to detecting the
brain signals, also provide various degrees of the environmental noise rejection. Flux transformers (magnetometers)
have the highest sensitivity to both near- and far-field
sources. Thus, they do not reduce the environmental noise
(and must rely solely on the references or other techniques
for the noise cancellation) [16].
Wire-wound gradiometers are the most conventional
and are commercially available for EM systems. The PCs
of wire-wound gradiometers are wound in opposition
and balanced so that a uniform field links the zero net
flux [37]. Conventional gradiometers, such as wire-wound,
thin-film, or electronic gradiometers, are axial or planar,
that is, one dimensional that detect the gradient of a
MF in one direction. These one-dimensional gradiometers
eectively reduce the ambient MF as their order increases.
However, they also reduce the biomagnetic signal. A twodimensional gradiometer detects the gradient of an MF in

Point
Ions

Ferro
Induct.
Phys. value

Dynam.

Figure 6: Interfacing ability (power) of the specific input elements.

It depends on two groups of space characteristics (form and
direction) for the available transducing media.

two orthogonal directions to achieve high SNR. It focuses on

a two-dimensional gradiometer that detects both the axialsecond-order and planar-first-order gradients of an MF.
Figure 3 shows a PC for the two-dimensional gradiometer.
The discrete configuration space is a graph. Each node in
the graph corresponds to an intermediate, and its neighbors
are intermediates to which it can be folded or unfolded
[38]. A common feature shared by folding of hydrophobicpolar chains on a lattice and self-folding a net through
vertex connections is that in both cases the process of
folding is driven by the formation of secondary links between
topological neighbors (Figure 4). The best 2D arrangements,
called planar nets, to create self-folding polyhedra with
dimensions of a few hundred microns are determined, and
optimal configurations for creating 3D geometric shapes
have been found.
The importance of being able to address nanoscale
elements in arrays goes beyond the area of nanocomputing
and will be critical to the realization of other integrated
nanosystems such as chemical/biological sensors. A regular
crossed-NW FET array that consists of n-input Iin and moutput Uout NWs, in which outputs are the active channels
of FETs and the inputs function as gate electrodes that turn
these output lines on and o [46, 47].
3.3. Multisensor Data Fusion from Arrays. A further step
should be synthesis of the said two methods in order to
develop the external (nonimplantable) MCG&MEG signalsto-processor connection. The EM sensors are surface PCs,
which are used in regular configuration where PCs with a
small distance between each other are distributed under the
heart or brain surface to pick up the local signals within the
place of interest. The problem of sensing the EM signal for
amplification/switching/memory with a speed of light in a

ISRN Nanotechnology
Table 1: Dependence of the received BS parameters on the mode of SuFETTrs functioning.
Mode

Medium

Serial
External


NI
Molecules
DNA

ibio = 1cont. or sens. imp.

BSs bio and chem. molec.

propagation of BS along DNAs

spirals

Parallel
Implantable
External
ibio = ibio ( f1 ) + ibio ( f2 ) +
dibio /dt, dibio /dx
+ ibio ( fN )

variation of BSs
BSs = 1 type of molec.
concentr. of molec.
decoding the BSs of
space and length dynamic
nucleoted recognition
on both spirals

Implantable



ibio = 1 network or 1 fibre

BSs =

bio and chem. molec.

4 nucleoteds 4 outputs

Table 2: Measuring eects (values) and the relative nanotransducers (for interfacing).

single (passive) solid-state device EM transistor/memristor

(EMTM) has been advanced [48]
An attempt to lay down the foundations of biosensing
by natural sensors and in addition to them by the artificial
transducers of physical quantities, also with their expansion
into space arrays and external/implantable functioning in
relation to the nervous system, is performed. Because the
sensing organs are exponentially better than any of analogous
artificial ones, the advances in nanotechnology are opening
the way to achieving direct electrical contact of nanoelectronic structures with electrically and electrochemically
active neurocellular structures. The transmission of the sensors signals to a processing unit has been maintaining by an
EM transistor/memristor (externally) and superconducting
transducer of ionic currents (implantable). The arrays of the
advanced sensors give us information about the space and
direction dynamics of the signals spreading.
Recent developments in bioengineering, nanotechnology, and soft computing make it possible to create a
new generation of intelligent sensing. There are developing
opportunities for combining natural and artificial sensing
abilities in the synthesized system. Backed up by the rapid
strides of nanotechnology, nanosensor research is making
a two-directional progress, firstly in evolving new sensors
employing mesoscopic phenomena, and secondly in the
performance enhancement of existing sensors. Nanosensors
are nanotechnology-enabled sensors characterized by one
of the following attributes: either the size of the sensor or
its sensitivity is in the nanoscale, or the spatial interaction
distance between the sensor and the object is in nanometers.
These nanosensors have been broadly classified into physical
and chemical categories, with the biosensors placed on
borderlines of biological signals with the remaining classes
[49].
Multiprocessor data fusion is in eect intrinsically performed by animals and human beings to achieve a more

NW element
PC(s)
NIext
EMTM
induction transducer
volume flowmeter

Superconducting membrane
NIimpl
acoustical EMTM
noise absorb.
universal flowmeter

A functional pattern of SuFETTr

Informational flow
Biological

EM field

Technical

el. current
Electronic

Ionic
el. voltage

Actuator

Ionic currents
FerroEM
Magnetic induction
Magnetodynam.

SuFET channel
NIimpl
EMTM
NIcontr
gaseous flowmeter

Sensor

Physical value

Empirical data
Biological

Technical
Informational flow

Figure 7

accurate assessment of the processing environment. The aim

of signal processing by the combined artificial-living being
multiprocessor system is to acquire complete information,
such as a decision or the measurement of quantity, using
a selected set of input data streaming to a multiprocessor
system-digital data are coming to artificial processor and
the rest of information consumes by a neural system of
living being (Figure 5). Thereby, a big amount of available
information is managed using sophisticated data processing
for the achievement of a high level of precision and reliability.

4. Results
Application variety of the novel superconducting, organic,
and CNTFETs allows us to design transducers of BS
(nerve, biochemical, etc.) that transduce them into dierent
quantities, including electric voltage, density of chemical
and biomolecules. On the other hand, the said BS can

ISRN Nanotechnology

7
Table 3: Geometrical form of the distributed in space and time arrays.

Dimension

Value
Array
dierential
dierential gradiometrical
gradiometrical module
gradiometrical dierential module

Scalar
module
gradiometrical
dierential module
gradiometrical module

point
line
curve
plane

Vector
triaxial
dierential triaxial
dierential triaxial
gradiometrical triaxial

Tensor
triaxial vector
dierential triaxial vector
dierential triaxial vector
gradiometrical triaxial vector

Table 4: Dependence of the received structure parameters on the mode of functioning- passive (Figure 1) or active (Figure 2).
Device

Object

Passive modulus

I1 = s f (x, y, z)ds

V1 = s f (x, y)dxd y

surface
volume
structure level

Active modulus

I2 = s f (x, y, z)dxd y

V2 = V f (x, y, z)dv
investigation of the inside
structure of the organs and
tissues

drug delivery to sheath

(envelopes) of organs

Passive gradient
I1 = I1 I1
V1 = V1 V1

Active gradient
I2 = I2 I2
V2 = V2 V2

comparing delivery to the dierential investigation the

organs or tissues areas
twin (pair) organs or tissues

comparing delivery to the dierential investigation the

object (body) drug delivery to homogeneous investigation of inhomogeneous
homogeneous organs or inhomogeneous twin (pair)
level
organs or tissues
organs or tissues
tissues areas
organs or tissues

Two-way current transducers (TCTs)

EM head coil

MEG

Acoustical
head coil

Neurointerface

Sensor

Flowmeter

External

EM (optical)
transistor

Pickup coil
CNT
magnetometer (bio)physical/chemical

Implantable

Actuator

Conductor
-ammeter

Figure 8

be controlled by the applied electrical signals or bio and

chemical mediums.
The described SuFETTrs designed on the basis of organic
and nano-SuFETs are suitable for describing the wide range
of BS dynamical parameters (see Table 1). Following the
columns of the table, it should be noticable that serial
connection of the external PCs allows us to gain some
integrated signal, that is, the whole sensing or control NI,
which spreads along the number of axons of the nerve
fibre: the amount of ions passing through the PCs and
the generalized BS passing through one or both spirals of
DNA. When SuFET channel(s) are implanted into the tissue
or process, we can acquire more precise data about the
frequency distribution of NI, volume distribution of ionized
molecules and detecting activity of individual nucleotides.

Exploitation of the parallel input to SuFETTr allows

determination of space and time dynamics of BS in the nerve
fibre and DNA spiral(s) and also the amplification of output
signal Uout by multiplying the concentration of molecules
according to a number of input BS. After the implantation
of parallel SuFET(s), the averaging or summation of this
dynamic among the whole neural network, nerve fibre, or
DNA spiral(s) is possible.
A number of both active and passive electronic elements
are used with PCs. On the other hand, any particular element
is susceptible by the eect of some specific physical quantity.
The relevant interfacing devices, which are acquired on the
said basis, are shown in Table 2. As a result, a wide range of
the biosensors allow both measuring the variety of magnetic
signals and interface the EM signals with further stages of
electronic systems.
The designed sensors are arranged in a space and time
arrays for investigation of the biostructures of the dierent
level of precision. This correspondence is established by
composing the head sensors from Table 2 into the various
gradiometry schemes from a simple planar to the 2d vector
enclosing in Table 3. In Table 3, the geometrical dimensions
from a point to volume ranges are transformed to the
mathematical terms.
The described interfaces designed on the basis of
SuFETTr are suitable for investigating both the structure of
organic objects and their comparing analysis (see Table 4).
Following the strings of the table, it should be noticeable,
that investigations of biological surfaces are performing
according to the surface integrals for a passive and active
signals moduluses, respectively. The surface gradients are
acquired by finding the dierence between the respective
values of I1 or I2 . The same is applying to the investigations
of biological volumes V1 and V2 as the double and triple

8
integrals respectively. The next two strings are explaining the
bounds on the possible spreading of the said method.
The aggregated interface qualities, which are given in the
tables, have been shown in the graph (Figure 6). Upon its
analysis, it becomes clear that the area which is bounded
by the dashed lines presents the MIs. At the same time,
there are some uncertain areas (marked on the figure)
that are inaccessible to the designed transducing elements.
Furthermore, the graphs square is open to the right for
perspective media of MIs.

5. Conclusions
The reviewed variety of FETs shows the varying extent of
readiness for them to be exploited in SuFETTr of electrical
current signals (see Figure 7). The most appropriate for
such an application are the ordinary solid-state SuFET
modifications and novel CNT-based SuFETs. The organic
SuFETs are not amply developed, but this work is being
carried out in a number of directions. At the same time,
the PCs, which are necessary for the external sensor with
respect to the transducing medium (nerve fibre, flow of
ions and DNA spiral), and corresponding low-ohmic wire
traces for connecting PCs to the FETs channel are suciently
developed, even at nanodimensions.
The preliminary calculations confirm the possibility of
broadening the SuFETTrs action from magnetic field to
the biochemical medium of BSs. The main parameters of
such BSs can be gained by applying the arrangement of
the SuFETTr(s) to the whole measurement system. Two
directions of SuFETTr function enable decoding of the BS by
comparing the result of its action on some process or organ
with an action on them of the simulated electrical or biochemical signal after their reverse transducing through the
SuFETTr(s). Furthermore, this decoded signal will provide
a basis for creating feedback and feedforward loops in the
measuring system for more precise and complete influence
on the biochemical process.
The advance in the instrumentation techniques and
technology of materials allows introducing of more accurate
methods of interfacing and transducers for their execution
(see Figure 8). At this level of progress, the head sensors of
paramount sensitivity and simplicity in picking up function
with minimal changes of the physical variables. The recent
breakthrough in superconducting- and nanotechnologies
caused the creation of induction transducers, which have better informational capability in some diagnostical purposes.
These devices are based on the universal law of the EM
induction on the one hand and dierent special eects of MF
interaction with a medium on the other. Since the proposed
variety of bio-nano-sensors are passive, they do not aect the
functions of the organs and their interaction.

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