Internet of Nano-Things Network Models and Medical
Applications
Najah Abu Ali Wesam Aleyadeh
Faculty of Information Technology Faculty of Medicine
United Arab Emirates University Hashemite University
Al Ain, UAE Zarqa, Jordan
najah@uaeu.ac.ae wesama@med.hu.edu.jo
Abstract— The advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) has given
the opportunity for the optimization and realization of different
applications in various areas. The implementation of the Internet
of Nano-Things (IoNT) will revolutionize healthcare systems. It
will streamline the diagnostic and prognostic processes and aid in
the treatment of patients through accurate and localized drug
delivery and tumor and disease detection. In this paper, we outline
the different network models of IoNT and the architectural
requirements for implementation. We highlight the main
applications of IoNT and the significant challenges we face in
implementing this technology in healthcare. We also discuss the
communication and networking aspects of IoNT examining two
paradigms; layer-based and non-layer based models including the
comprised layers in the layered model. We finally provide a
comparison between the two models and discuss the advantages,
disadvantages of both.
Keywords— Internet of Nano-Things; healthcare applications;
nanonetworks.
I. INTRODUCTION
Recent advancement in nanotechnology development and
design of nanoscale components with sizes ranging from one to
a few hundred nanometers (nanosensors, nanoprocessors,
nanobatteries, nanoantennas, nanomemory, etc.) executing
simple tasks such as sensing, actuation and computing have
promoted a new class of application and service such as intra-
human body monitoring. A standalone nanodevice is highly
constrained by limited energy, processing and communication
range. The nanonetwork holds significantly greater
communication and processing potential that overcomes the
limitations of standalone nanomachines through nanodevices
cooperation. This may allow for the provision of advanced
services and applications in several fields such as industry,
environment, military and health. One of the most attractive
applications of nanonetworks is in the healthcare and biomedical
fields. Nanomachines can monitor inaccessible parts of the
human body, such as the aortic heart valve and collect sensory
data of the valve. A nanonetwork, in turn, can carry the sensory
data to an external device such as a Smartphone or an Internet
gateway enabling nanodevices to wirelessly communicate with
powerful external processing devices. Nanonetworks connected
to internet gateways enables a new network paradigm called the
IoNT.
IoNT holds an exciting potential for advanced health services
and applications. Integrating IoNT with other healthcare
978-1-5090-0304-4/16/$31.00 ©2016 IEEE 211
Mervat AbuElkhair
Faculty of Computer and Information Sciences
Mansoura University
Mansoura, Egypt
mfahmy78@mans.edu.eg
network systems will expand the array of services that can be
provided to patients as well as healthcare decision makers.
Various data dissemination requirements that stem from IoNT’s
unique features need to be incorporated into its protocol stack
model for this to come to light. Different challenges against
protocols design are still being investigated with no currently
fully developed solutions. Traditional TCP/IP protocol stack
model is not feasible for implementation in nanonetworks since
the TCP/IP model was originally designed for the high
processing of general purpose network nodes. Conversely,
nanomachines nodes are limited in the power supply,
processing, and communication range. Currently, introducing an
innovative protocol stack model that captures the specific
characteristics of nanonetworks is still in its early stages and an
active area of research. Several proposals in current literature
address the nanonetworks protocol stack as the proposals can be
categorized into two main categories: Layer-based models, and
no-layer models.
This paper is organized as follows. Section II will provide a
general overview of the ubiquitous healthcare ecosystem and the
architectural requirements that will incorporate nanonetworks.
The IoNT projected healthcare applications and their
characteristics are highlighted in Section III. The current status
of performance analysis and evaluation is discussed in Section
IV. Section V outlines the IoNT networking requirements and
challenges that need to be addressed in order to realize novel
healthcare applications. Finally, Section VI concludes the paper.
II. IONT NETWORK MODELS
A. Layer-Based Models
Some proposals attempted to implement a minor form of TCP/IP
model regardless of the constraints of the employment of
TCP/IP model in nanonetworks while other proposals suggested
the use of layer-based models specifically designed for
nanonetworks. The work in [1] attempts to apply the model in
its current form for practical use in nanonetworks. Similar to the
TCP/IP model, the protocol stack is composed of the following:
Application, Transport, Network and Physical layers from the
sender and the receiver side. The Application layer functions
mainly as an interface between the sender and the receiver. It
initiates transmission by compiling a message at the sender side
as a response to sensing an event and then executes this message
at the receiver side. Transport layer functions are similar to the
traditional transport layer responsible for the error and flow
control. The Network layer is responsible for addressing and
end-to-end delivery. The Physical layer is responsible for
transmitting a packet in the bloodstream to its destination. The
work in [1] is designed for health application, specifically for
efficient drug delivery. The proposed work overlooked
additional means of communication and different applications
of nanonetworks. Moreover, the work assumes implementation
of the whole protocol stack of the TCP/IP model, which may not
be feasible due to low storage and low processing nodes. It may
also not be needed for some applications of nanonetworks.
Authors of [2] inspired the inspection of the architecture of
biological systems such as microbial systems to identify key
design principles and develop an initial architectural model for
intrabody nanonetworks. However, they deferred proposing the
layer-based system itself for future work. Piro et al. [3] proposed
a new protocol stack to be used in their proposed nano-sim
module, which consists of four layers: message process unit,
network layer, media access control entity, and physical
interface. The message process unit’s main function is
generating and processing messages while the network layer is
responsible for routing and forwarding. The media access
control unit is a simplified transparent MAC protocol with the
main purpose of passing the packet from the network layer to
the physical interface. It does not perform any error control and
hence no MAC layer header is required in this mode. The
physical interface transmits the signal to the media using Time
spread on-off keying (TS-OOK) modulation technique.
B. No-Layer-Based Models
Layer-based protocol stack assumes that nanonetworks maintain
a multi-tiered, dynamic, and opportunistic hierarchical
architecture that comprise nanomachines, nano-router, and
gateway. Nanomachines can be further clustered so that each
group that serves a certain body area or a certain purpose is
managed by a cluster head that will handle data propagation to
the nano-router [4]. The hierarchy tree from nanomachines to
back-end servers needs to be dynamic; connectivity from
nanomachines to cluster heads and from cluster heads to
gateways can change according to context and availability.
Thus, nano-routers can connect to the nearest gateway in order
to send data. Nano-routers and cluster heads are assumed to have
relatively higher processing power and larger bulks. Sizeable
nano-routers may not feasibly reside within nanonetworks for
some applications or environments under monitoring due to
different factors, such as the environment structure, scalability,
and placement issues. Hence, these concerns can be addressed
by assuming one-tiered nanonetworks, which consider identical
network nodes with low processing and power capabilities, and
simplified networking models. Specifically, no-layer-based
models enforced by the limitations of the nanomachine nodes
motivate the single layer paradigms, where the function of the
Datalink, Network, Transport, and Application layers is
combined in the Physical layer mainly through signal flooding
communication. Signal flooding abolishes the requirements for
node addressing, identification, routing and forwarding
schemes. The work in [5] proposed a no-layer-based networking
paradigm and flooding data dissemination scheme. The
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proposed scheme assumes a square grid network architecture
where the nanonodes are distributed densely at the vertices of
the grid. Utilizing the uniform nodes’ patterns and lattice
algebra, the scheme dismisses the requirement for node
addressing and employs simple flooding routing scheme for data
dissemination. The scheme relies on classifying each node as
either an infrastructure or single user node, depending on its
reception quality. Only infrastructure nodes are allowed to
forward any received packets to their neighbors. However, this
classification is dynamic and adaptable. The proposed scheme,
though simplifying the communication model, overlooks the
cost of classification and real-time signal processing of each
packet. Additionally, it assumes fixed structure and static node
deployment. The nanonodes typically display random behavior.
Nanonetworks can move around the human body for certain
health applications, and therefore, may need to be associated
with different neighbors and thus may not always acquire fixed
structure. Comparatively, nanonetworks deployed for
environment monitoring may get affected by wind movement,
which will affect their location, and therefore may associate with
different neighbors along their path. In the following, we follow
a networking layer-based approach to present and discuss the
current literature of communication and networking of IoNT
applications and services.
III. IONT PROTOCOL STACK
A. Application Layer
Cellular processes ranging from DNA replication to protein
production occur at the nano-level. IoNT provides an
opportunity for localized action on inactive or faulty processes
in contrast to operating on the tissue-level with possible adverse
side effects. Drug delivery is one of the most commonly known
possible applications for nanomachines. Drugs molecules
usually have low specificity to target tissue and thus require high
dosages for an observable effect. Using nanomachines may
reduce dose and systemic absorption of cytotoxic drugs by
leading them to target tumor cells [6]. Implementing this
technology will allow us to use the minimal dosage necessary to
produce an effect, thereby increasing the benefit/risk ratio
application of drug use while also decreasing future resistance
to these drugs. Most diseases, including and especially cancers,
once detected at an early stage can not only be treated but also
excised from the body. Rapid detection of a virus or a tumor is
crucial for prompt patient management and implementation of
public health alert and control measures. [7] found that a
biosensor may allow for the detection of microorganisms within
10 minutes with no further need of the currently implemented
laborious processes. Treatment of tumors has taken different
forms over recent years and one of these is through hyperthermic
or high-temperature exposure. Normally, cells would undergo
apoptosis and necrosis at sustained temperatures of 41 Co [8].
[9] proposed a model for nanomachines working at a peak
temperature of 82 Celsius using iron oxides magnetite and
maghemite nanoparticles, with a higher tumor temperature that
can be induced with the increase of the particle radius. They also
suggest that about 1500 seconds is needed for the tumor tissue
temperature to reach a steady state. However, a major barrier to
this technique is the hyperthermic damage to surrounding tissue.
Application design for healthcare services needs to address
requirements for real-time, reliable, and context-aware
operation. The critical significance of health services makes
real-time or near-real-time operation a fundamental
requirement. However, due to the unpredictable transmission
medium and the significantly short range of intra-body
communication, a random delay is to be expected. The
heterogeneous nature of nanomachines and their use for several
medical purposes inside the body will result in different data
representations and formats. Data fusion will, therefore, need to
be optimal, dynamic, and delay-tolerant for applications that
rely on the integration of diverse data sources [10]. Applications
that involve periodic monitoring can be designed to operate on
sliding-window-based data aggregation in order to cater for
delay-tolerance. However, data aggregation and fusion are not
always suitable for healthcare applications, because of the real-
time requirements, and since many of those applications depend
on fine-grained variations in the temporal domain that are lost in
the aggregation/fusion process.
Context awareness is another challenging aspect for
nanonetworks. Networks deployed outside of the body can be
geographically tagged and can communicate with the external
environment in order to determine and update their context.
Nanonetworks deployed inside the human body need a
noninvasive mechanism to recognize their context, especially
for deployments that depend on node mobility. Furthermore,
applications need to coordinate multiple contexts for specific
services that can benefit from the integration of intra-body
networks and on-body networks as well as external networks.
For example, an on-body network can detect the change of
context for a patient and be alerted by an environmental network
about the presence of a certain allergen to which the patient is
sensitive. The intra-body network is then notified and the proper
drug is released in the body to control the allergic reaction.
Current research on challenges to implementing IoNT in
medical applications is lacking and unexplored. One of the areas
that must be examined is THz radiation and the thermal and non-
thermal effect of terahertz waves on tissues and cellular
processes. [11] exposed Jurkat human T-lymphocyte cells to
THz radiation (2.52 THz, 227 mW/cm2 with durations reaching
40 minutes and found that most cells underwent necrosis after
being exposed for 20 minutes or longer. 60% of Jurkat cells
survived the 30-minute exposure, and only 20% survived 40
minutes. The effects are not only restricted to higher wattage and
frequencies. [12] exposed a monolayer-cultured human-hamster
hybrid cell line to a 0.106 THz radiation source for 30 minutes,
with power densities ranging from 0.043 mW/cm2 to 4.3
mW/cm2 and found that THz radiation affected chromatid
separation during the mitotic anaphase and telophase. Further
research is thus required to understand the effects of THz
radiation on living tissue. At the forefront of research will be the
need to provide reliable mathematical and physical models, as
well as computer simulations that can be applied on the
biological medium.
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B. Transport Layer
Nanomachines suffer from unreliable transmission due to the
high level of biological noise [10]. The projected dense
deployment of nanomachines may allow the nanonetwork to
become more reliable holistically. The Dense deployment will
also make up for the potential packet loss since more
nanomachines with the same functionality can report the same
data.
The nanoscale of the IoNT makes it impractical to have
individual network addresses for the individual nanomachines.
Addressing can thus be cluster-based instead of node-based.
This makes it possible to address a group of nodes based on the
health functionality they perform or the biological organ or
phenomena they monitor [13].
One challenge that is not addressed in the literature is control of
congestion, especially in a dense nanomachines deployment
scenario. Although some techniques from electromagnetic
communication may be adapted for the Terahertz band, it is not
yet clear how congestion will be avoided in molecular
communication, since the molecules are the medium that carries
the information.
C. Network Layer
The communication range for the IoNT systems is expected to
be between 1 cm and 1 m for terahertz-based communication
and 1 nm to 1 cm for molecular communication [13]. This means
that the transmission range is extremely limited, which makes
multi-hop communication and routing a critical aspect for
nanonetworks. Furthermore, the direction of a communication
route is not deterministic and is dependent on the drift velocity
of nanomachines inside the body, which may lead to
communication delay. The mobility of nanomachines can be
utilized for routing to reduce the delay incurred due to biological
propagation limitations. This will require efficient schemes for
multi-hop path creation and management.
The limited processing and storage capabilities of nanomachines
dictate that routing design should not assume that nodes have
knowledge of the network topology. Network topology inside
the body can be random and dynamic due to the uncontrolled
properties of the biological communication medium. This also
affects cooperation between nanomachines, which has to be kept
to a minimum. Node mobility inside the body and proximity-
based opportunistic routing can be suitable solutions. Topology
information can be maintained by cluster heads and gateways
[10]. The work presented in [14] proposes a geographic routing
protocol; the nodes of the nanonetworks is assumed to comprise
two types anchor nodes, which have higher communication and
processing capabilities than user nodes. User nodes are required
to localize their position reference to these anchor nodes. The
authors assume that the network topology is square with four
anchors located at the vertices of the square corners. The authors
claim that two anchors are sufficient for each node to measure
its location. The forwarding scheme operates at two phases;
setup phase and operation phase. Setup phase designed to assist
user nodes in measuring their distances from the anchors. In the
operation phase, a source node selects the anchor nodes and
incorporates this information in a packet header proposed by the
authors. A receiving node checks its location, the destination
location and source location to decide on forwarding or dropping
the packet. Similar to [5], the proposed scheme is topology
dependent and assumed fixed topology, which may not be
applicable for nanonetworks. Additionally, the scheme requires
addressing for all nodes, which was not discussed in the paper.
The setup phase requires careful synchronization among anchor
nodes and user nodes. A sound routing scheme for energy
harvesting was proposed in [15]. The routing scheme assumes a
hierarchical cluster-based architecture. Packet transmission
from the source to the cluster-head or nano-controller can be
direct or multihop based on the probability of saving energy
through transmission, optimizing throughput and minimizing
nanosensors load. The aforementioned solutions addressed
partial challenges and constraints of nanonetworks. Some
proposals assume multitier nanonetworks, explicit node
addressing and cluster/tier wide time synchronization. Others
overlook the randomness nature of the nanonetworks and mostly
topology-based routing schemes. Generalized routing schemes
that consider the requirements and constraints of nanonetworks
discussed above continue to be an open area of research.
D. Medium Access Control Layer
MAC protocols designed for traditional wireless media cannot
capture the special characteristics of terahertz band
communication and nanonodes specification. Traditional
Wireless MAC protocols, therefore, cannot be implemented in
IoNT. Terahertz band communication provides enormous
bandwidth and significantly short transmission time [16], which
leads to fewer collisions and interference than in traditional
networks. Comparatively, different researchers advocate the
design of transparent MAC protocols. Transparent MAC is a
simplified protocol, where the packet received from the network
layer is transmitted to the physical interface without handling
any flow control, error control or adding any headers to the
packet [3]. The high path-loss and low energy of nano-devices
coupled with noisy transmission media increase the probability
of packet errors regardless of the huge link bandwidth. This
promotes the need for error-control MAC protocols that address
the necessity of controlling access to the THz-band channel to
reduce packets retransmissions. Packets retransmissions may be
costly because nanoscale devices are self-powered using energy
harvesting. Fully charged nanodevices are capable of just
transmitting a few packets before getting fully depleted.
Consequently, nanonodes are required to wait to recharge using
energy harvesting before being able to transmit again, which
may introduce an unavoidable delay that renders packet
retransmission useless. Schemes presented in [17, 18] are
examples of proposals that attempt to alleviate the need for
retransmissions by proposing a lightweight coding energy
saving aware schemes for error correction and error detection at
the MAC layer.
Shahram et al. proposed energy harvesting aware MAC protocol
inspired by CSMA/CA-CD called RIH-MAC [19]. The scheme
is receiver-oriented, where a receiver sends an RTR signal to all
interested sources once it has the sufficient harvested energy to
receive a packet. An interested source replies with a DATA
packet sent to the receiver. The work in [20] proposed a
214
deterministic MAC protocol using TDMA instead of the
probabilistic proposed scheme of [19].
Coding and collision avoidance schemes may reduce
retransmissions and multiuser interference but will require
longer data packets and additional packets overhead. This may
result in higher energy consumption at both the transmitter and
the receiver when compared with the transparent MAC layer.
Performance evaluation of transparent MAC protocols in
comparison to error control-based MAC protocols is required.
The schemes can be evaluated using classic metrics such as
energy consumption per transmitted bit, throughput, and packet
loss. The evaluation results may then provide insight on the
advantages and disadvantages of the two main aspects of MAC
protocol designs and allow us to identify the protocol type that
is a better fit to combat the limitations of nanodevices.
E. Physical Layer
Three main requirements are needed by health applications at
the PHY layer: a channel capacity that guarantees reliable data
delivery, an accurate channel model that accounts for the unique
biological transmission medium and its associated noise, and
efficient coding schemes that are resilient to errors.
Channel capacity is dependent on the end-to-end
communication path between the transmitter and the receiver.
Since the transmission range for nanonetworks is severely
limited, dense deployment of nanomachines is required, coupled
with multi-hop communication support in order to be support
reliable data delivery [20].
Channel models that incorporate path loss, thermal noise, and
channel capacity for both molecular and electromagnetic nano-
communication are needed [21]. The channel medium for
molecular communication is the molecules, which have to
propagate through biological tissue and are subject to Brownian
motion [20]. This makes it challenging to predict how the data
will propagate through the biological channel. Since the body is
composed of 65% water, even EM radio frequency propagation
will be challenging to model. Ultrasonic communication was
proposed as a more reliable and currently operational paradigm
to achieve internetworking of nanomachines for intra-body
communication [22]. Channel characteristics for intra-body
nanonetworks may vary with health conditions and from person
to person, making it most difficult to identify how this variation
can be incorporated into channel modeling.
Efficient coding is affected by the ability to accurately
characterize and model the sources of error both in molecular
and electromagnetic communication. Coding at the nanoscale
needs to have significantly low complexity due to the limited
processing capacity of nanomachines [16].
IV. CONCLUSIONS
In this study, we presented a comprehensive survey of the
network models of IoNT and highlighted the different layers
involved in the layered model. We presented the most
significant applications such as drug delivery and disease
detection for implementation in healthcare services and
demonstrated their importance. The effects of the use of
terahertz waves on the human tissue will need to be examined
prior to utilizing IoNT in the healthcare system. Developing
reliable mathematical and physical models, as well as computer
simulations that can be applied on the biological medium before
IoNT can be used successfully in healthcare remains at the
forefront of priorities in research.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This work was made possible by NRF-UAEU grant
#31T005- from United Arab Emirates University, NRF.
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