Microelectronic Systems for Improved Quality of Life

Microelectronic revolutions come in waves that are driven by necessity. Currently, the aging population is creating a need for various kinds of electronic systems to improve their quality of life. These include the restoration of lost functionality via electronic implants, better health screening technology and non-invasive monitoring in the home environment. In this talk I will present work that has been done towards addressing these needs, whether it be through the development of new required building blocks or through the development of more complex systems that combine custom built hardware and software. In particular the talk covers work done towards developing a vestibular implant for balance restoration, a single chip low-power imager for a bionic eye, a cancer screening capsule for detecting early-stage carcinomas in the small intestine and a bio-inspired acoustic scene analysis system.