Invited Talks

Technical Session: Biologically inspired models for innovation in Medicine

Neurophysiological indices of brain plasticity from EEG-based modeling of brain networks

Laura Astolfi (Department of Computer, Control, and Management Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, astolfi@dis.uniroma1.it)

Modeling functional brain circuits during specific tasks, or even at rest, can provide important information about the neural mechanisms at the basis of many motor and cognitive functions. In particular, tracking changes in brain networks can inform about their modifications due to pathological conditions, and their reorganization due to spontaneous recovery or to a specific treatment. In this paper we will discuss the role of EEG-based connectivity studies in supporting the diagnosis of specific motor and cognitive deficits and in defining neurophysiological outcome measures of different rehabilitation interventions.

Technical Session: Computational Intelligence Applications in Health and Smart Cities

Computational Intelligence, Precision Medicine and Comorbidity

Pietro Lio' (Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge, UK)

Precision medicine (PM) relevance is destined to grow with the development of computational intelligence methods and Electronic Health Records data mining. One priority is to find synergies between phenotypes and markers of diseases and comorbidities. PM somehow represents an arrival point. The previous era of P4 medicine has established a shift of paradigm in the medical field. In this talk, I will focus on data synergies leading to the integration of heterogeneous sources of information, the definition of deep phenotyping and markers re-modulation; the establishment of clinical decision support systems. Currently, some problems remain to be solved, involving geo-differentiation and ethnic balance, protocols for sharing of digital information, interoperability between different record types (structured and non) to optimize the process of decision making in an actionable way. The link between "precision" and "big data” with respect to computational intelligence, will be the key point of our understanding of complex diseases and management of comorbidities affecting an increasing amount of people in the most advanced societies.

The quest for a bionic hand: recent achievements and future perspectives

Silvestro Micera (Bertatelli Foundation Chair in Translational NeuroEngineering, Institute of Bioengineering & Center for Neuroprosthetics, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland)

Translational Neural Engineering Area, The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa, Italy

Replacing a missing upper limb with a functional one is an ancient need and desire. Historically, humans have replaced a missing limb with a prosthesis for many reasons, be it cosmetic, vocational, or for personal autonomy. The hand is a powerful tool and its loss causes severe physical and often mental debilitation. The need for a versatile prosthetic limb with intuitive motor control and realistic sensory feedback is huge and its development is absolutely necessary for the near future. Among the possible solutions to achieve this goal, interfaces with the peripheral nervous system, and in particular intraneural electrodes, are a very promising choice. In this presentation, the results achieved so far by using thin-film transversal intraneural electrodes (TIMEs) for sensory feedback are summarized. First, we are going to show the results achieved during a short-term implant of TIMEs in a trans-radial amputee to restore sensory feedback. With the first subject, it was possible to restore several component of the sense of touch such as contact events, grasping force, object shape and stiffness. We also showed that texture discrimination can be restored by implementing a neuromorphic algorithm reproducing the firing dynamics of nerve fibers connected to mechanoreceptors. Recent results achieved of the first long-term implant in another amputee confirm and extend previous results. Finally, the next steps to achieve a fully implantable devices will be briefly summarized. These findings show that these interfaces are a valuable solution for delivering sensory feedback to subjects with transradial amputation. Further experiments are necessary to better understand the potentials of this approach during chronic experiments.

Technical Session: Cultural Heritage, Smart City, and Participatory Process

Designing Tangible Interactions for Participation and Dialogue in Heritage

Luigina Ciolfi (Cultural Communication and Computing Research Institute, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK)

Technical Session: Nanoelectronics and Nanoelectromagnetics for a Smarter Technology in Everyday Life

Nanopackaging for a Smarter Life

James E. Morris (Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon 97207-0751, USA, j.e.morris@ieee.org)

We live in an Information Age driven by the astonishing progression of solid state electronics over the past 70 years since the invention of the transistor, and especially by the relentless march forward driven by industrial roadmaps based on faith in the infallibility of Moore’s Law. But even as Moore’s Law falters in the face of the challenges of nanoscale device manufacturing, new applications are opening up, e.g. flexible electronics, wearables, Internet of Things, etc. As IC chips became bigger and on-chip devices became smaller, electronics packaging, which has provided the chip with mechanical support, environmental protection, thermal dissipation, signal and power integrity, and system reliability from mainframe computers and PCs to smart phones, has kept pace through comparable innovations. Electronics packaging areas are becoming more specialized in meeting new environmental challenges, e.g. biomedical, oil well, space, aeronautics, and of that information center formerly known as an automobile! The current “grand challenges” for electronics packaging are 3D system integration by chip-stacking, embedded passives to provide more board real estate for active silicon, and the continuing battle against increasing power dissipation.

Nanotechnologies offer a variety of materials options for reliability improvements in microelectronics packaging, primarily in the applications of nanocomposites, or in the exploitation of the superior properties of carbon nanotubes and graphene. Nanoparticle composite materials are studied for resistors, high-k dielectrics, electrically conductive adhesives, conductive “inks,” underfill fillers, and solder enhancements, while nanowires, CNTs and graphene may also find thermal, interconnect, and shielding applications. The presentation will focus on these materials technologies, as outlined below.

Introduction to Electronics Packaging and context to the “Smarter Life”
Nanoparticle properties: melting point depression, coulomb block, sintering, mechanical strength, etc
Nanoparticle fabrication
Nanoparticles for inductors, capacitors and resistors for embedded passives
Nanoparticles in electrically conductive adhesives,
Nanoparticles in conductive inks for SMT interconnect and vias
Nanoparticles added to lead-free solders and flip-chip underfills
CNTs: fabrication, characterization, and properties
CNT effects in solders
CNTs for thermal management and electromagnetic shielding
Graphene for thermal management
Nanowires and nanoscale spring interconnects
Current commercial applications of nanopackaging
Summary

This talk is partially sponsored by the IEEE Nanotechnology Council under its Distinguished Lecturer program. The level will be introductory and accessible to students and graduates in electrical, mechanical, and materials engineering or the physical sciences.The talk will be beneficial to anyone with an interest in electronic device design, fabrication, assembly, or application.

Technical Session: New Frontiers in Adaptive Computing Systems

Dynamic circuit specialisation as a step towards more efficient hardware design of the future

Dirk Stroobandt (Electronics and Information Systems (ELIS) Department, Ghent University, iGent, Technologiepark-Zwijnaarde 15, 9052 Gent, Belgium, http:hes.elis.ugent.be/dstrooba)

When the end of Moore's Law will prevent our future hardware from automatically being smaller, faster, more functional, and cheaper, we will have to find other ways to design future hardware systems more efficiently. Instead of optimizing different application parts separately and placing them on a chip next to each other, we can use dynamic circuit specialization (DCS). In DCS, parts of our implementation are individually optimized but placed on the same FPGA hardware area one after the other. Changing between optimized implementation parts happens through dynamic FPGA reconfiguration. In this presentation, the possibilities of dynamic circuit specialisation will be highlighted, what it can mean for future hardware design and how run time reconfiguration can be automatically performed on current FPGAs.

Technical Session: Wireless Power Transfer: modelling and applications

Inductive Power Transfer in the ISM bands

Paul Mitcheson (Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Imperial College London, UK, paul.mitcheson@imperial.ac.uk)

Inductive power transfer is commonplace at lower power for charging phones and, whilst not common, is known and demonstrated at several kW for charging electric vehicles. The general trade-off is that as power increases, frequency decreases. However, in power electronics, the general rule that high frequency operation allows higher power density as the passive components shrink, also holds in wireless power transfer. In this talk, I will review some fundamentals, highlight the challenges of high frequency (i.e. multi-MHz) operation in the ISM bands, discuss some of the solutions to enable highly efficiency power electronics on the transmitter and receiver side with functionality to build a system robust to changes in reflected load.