A Multimodality CMOS Cellular Interfacing Array for Holistic Cellular Characterizations and Cell-based Drug Screening

Prof. Hua Wang
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology

Abstract: Cells are highly complex systems that often exhibit multi-physics responses under external stimulus. To achieve holistic cellular characterizations, it is essential to create interfaces that can provide (1) single-cell resolution, (2) multi-modality interfacing with cells, (3) real-time two-way communication (sensing and actuation), (4) compatibility with high throughput massively parallel operations, and (5) possibility of production at commercial quantities. The nanometer-scale complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process is a potential candidate to realize cell-microelectronics interfaces. Electronics-based computations and signal processing, such as application of machine learning methods, may drastically relax the requirement on the physical interface and lead to further pixel miniaturization.

In this talk, we will present several fully integrated multi-modality CMOS cellular joint sensor/actuator arrays with multiple sensing modalities in every array pixel to characterize different cell physiological responses, including extracellular voltage recording, cellular impedance mapping, optical detection with shadow imaging and bioluminescence sensing, and thermal monitoring. Each pixel also contains electrical voltage/current excitation for cellular stimulation. These reported CMOS cellular joint sensor/actuator arrays is composed up-to 22k multi-modality pixels on each chip with spatial resolution down to 17um*17um/pixel. Multi-modality cellular sensing at the pixel level is supported, which enables holistic cell characterization and concurrent joint-modality physiological monitoring on the same cellular sample. Comprehensive biological experiments with different living cell samples demonstrate the functionality and benefit of the proposed multi-modality cellular interfacing in cell-based assay and drug screening applications.

Bio: Hua Wang received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, in 2007 and 2009, respectively. He worked at Intel Corporation and Skyworks Solutions before joining the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology as an assistant professor in 2012. Dr. Wang received 2017 Outstanding Young Engineer Award of the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (MTT-S), a National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2015, the 2016 Georgia Tech Sigma Xi Young Faculty Award, the 2014 DURIP Award, Georgia Tech Roger P. Webb ECE Outstanding Junior Faculty Member Award in 2015, and Lockheed Dean’s Excellence in Teaching Award in 2015. He currently holds the Demetrius T. Paris Junior Professorship of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. His research interests are in innovating mixed-signal, RF, and mm-wave integrated circuits and systems for wireless communication and bioelectronics applications. Dr. Wang is an Associate Editor of the IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters (MWCL). He is currently a Technical Program Committee (TPC) Member for IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits Symposium (RFIC), IEEE Custom Integrated Circuits Conference (CICC), IEEE Biopolar/BiCMOS Circuits and Technology Meeting (BCTM), IEEE Sensors Conference, and IEEE Biomedical Circuits and Systems Conference (BioCAS). He serves as the Chair of the Atlanta’s IEEE CAS/SSCS joint chapter, which won the IEEE SSCS Outstanding Chapter Award in 2014.