1. THE ELECTRONIC GUARDIAN ANGEL "Our overall vision is to drive forward science and technology at the component and sub-system level, informed by system level solutions to commercial applications, with the ultimate goal of improving the health, wealth and vitality of humankind in the era of all-pervading personal information exchange". The Integrated Electronics Portfolio Partnership at the University of Surrey brings together unique expertise in Nanotechnology, Mobile Communications and Medical Imaging. Using the strengths of the partnership, a ‘flagship’ activity in the ‘Electronic Guardian Angel’ concept has been identified as the ideal cornerstone. Different groups will bring in complementary expertise to solve a critical component associated with ‘Health and Well-Being” for the 21 st century. Already, working partnerships with key industrial partners has resulted added value benefits to the project in terms of resources and personnel. The single large entity in the form of the ‘Electronic Guardian Angel’ would not have been possible without the extreme flexibility afforded to us via the Portfolio Partnership. S.R.P. Silva, B.G. Evans, M. Petrou and A. Kondoz School of Electronics and Physical Sciences www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Research/PortfolioPartnership Contact: s.silva@surrey.ac.uk © The Integrated Electronics Portfolio Partnership, 2005. Produced by Stephen Lyth Part of the Portfolio Partnership In modular form, four major self-contained components will be addressed; (1)Nano-sensors for high precision and highly spatially resolved bio-sensing (2)Use of highly specialised imaging and software to give a first diagnostic report (3)Body area networking compatible with current mobile and medical practises to form a low power communication channel from sensors to a local node (4)Delivery of the large amount of information collected from the biosensors to a practical virtual display which will serve as an interface for medical staff. “The full life-cycle of creativity, prototyping, evaluation and innovation will be fully tested in this project which will attempt to provide highly versatile, unobtrusive, portable, real life biosensors and tele-medical devices.” Objectives To develop EEG sensors of higher resolution than current state-of-the-art versions, utilising nanotechnology To assess whether such sensors allow the clinician to ‘see’ details and patterns associated with conditions such as sleep deprivation and migraine, which are not detectable using standard sensors To demonstrate the collection of information from nodes around the body to a central point using a ‘Body Area Network’ (BAN), that would be compatible with current network protocols To develop and demonstrate the motion capture system, the visualisation platform, the audio array and variant document exchange system, that will be adoptable with current standards The sensors developed will be multifunctional and able to monitor a number of different variables that will be transmitted via the Body Area Network (with pre or post processing of the data). This information will be transmitted via the high bandwidth communication link to allow interaction by the user. It is expected that the new sensors will provide more resolution and more detailed information which may allow to reconstruct brain topographic patterns where even veins affected by migraine may be identified. A final product could be adapted for other environments, such as virtual teaching, doctor training, pilot training, military training and distance learning. New biosensors developed by the Electronic Guardian Angel could help migraine sufferers. The Electronic Guardian Angel could revolutionise the way modern surgery is carried out Higher resolution EEG monitoring could reveal more about brain processes during sleep, and sleep deprivation. The facilities within the new iLab at UniS will help to advance the Electronic Guardian Angel project Interactive environments in the operating theatre could help reduce operation times, minimise the number of staff present, and ultimately prevent fatalities Left: The Electronic Guardian Angel Project could increase the resolution of EEG equipment, helping us to understand the complexities of the brain, and to diagnose problems more easily Right: Carbon Nanotubes could be one way of using nanotechnology to improve medical diagnoses. Their large surface area could prove useful in increasing EEG resolution.