Sensing magnetic flux density of artificial neurons with a MEMS device |
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Authors: | Jesus A Tapia Agustin L Herrera-May Pedro J García-Ramírez Jaime Martinez-Castillo Eduard Figueras Amira Flores Elías Manjarrez |
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Institution: | 1.Instituto de Fisiología,Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla,Puebla,Mexico;2.Centro de Investigación en Micro y Nanotecnología,Universidad Veracruzana,Boca del Río,Mexico;3.Depto. Ingeniería Mecánica, Campus Irapuato-Salamanca,Universidad de Guanajuato,Salamanca,Mexico;4.Instituto de Microelectrónica de Barcelona (IMB-CNM. CSIC),Bellaterra, Barcelona,Spain |
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Abstract: | We describe a simple procedure to characterize a magnetic field sensor based on microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology,
which exploits the Lorentz force principle. This sensor is designed to detect, in future applications, the spiking activity
of neurons or muscle cells. This procedure is based on the well-known capability that a magnetic MEMS device can be used to
sense a small magnetic flux density. In this work, an electronic neuron (FitzHugh–Nagumo) is used to generate controlled spike-like
magnetic fields. We show that the magnetic flux density generated by the hardware of this neuron can be detected with a new
MEMS magnetic field sensor. This microdevice has a compact resonant structure (700 × 600 × 5 μm) integrated by an array of
silicon beams and p-type piezoresistive sensing elements, which need an easy fabrication process. The proposed microsensor
has a resolution of 80 nT, a sensitivity of 1.2 V⋅T−1, a resonant frequency of 13.87 kHz, low power consumption (2.05 mW), quality factor of 93 at atmospheric pressure, and requires
a simple signal processing circuit. The importance of our study is twofold. First, because the artificial neuron can generate
well-controlled magnetic flux density, we suggest it could be used to analyze the resolution and performance of different
magnetic field sensors intended for neurobiological applications. Second, the introduced MEMS magnetic field sensor may be
used as a prototype to develop new high-resolution biomedical microdevices to sense magnetic fields from cardiac tissue, nerves,
spinal cord, or the brain. |
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