1.1 Overview of Lab-on-Chip Laboratory-on-Chip (LoC) is a multidisciplinary approach used for the miniaturization, integration and automation of biological assays or procedures in analytical chemistry [1-3]. Biology and chemistry are experimental sciences that are continuing to evolve and develop new protocols. Each protocol offers step-by-step laboratory instructions, lists of the necessary equipments and required biological and/or chemical substances [4-7]. A biological or chemical laboratory contains various pieces of equipment used for performing such protocols and, as shown in Fig. 1.1, the engineering aspect of LoC design is aiming to embed all these components in a single chip for single-purpose applications. 1.1.1 Main Objectives of LoC Systems Several clear advantages of this technology over conventional approaches, including portability, full automation, ease of operation, low sample consumption and fast assays time, make LoC suitable for many applications including. 1.1.1.1 Highly Throughput Screening To conduct an experiment, a researcher fills a well with the required biological or chemical analytes and keeps the sample in an incubator for some time to allowing the sample to react properly. Afterwards, any changes can be observed using a microscope. In order to quickly conduct millions of biochemical or pharmacolo- cal tests, the researchers will require an automated highly throughput screening (HTS) [8], comprised of a large array of wells, liquid handling devices (e.g., mic- channel, micropump and microvalves [9-11]), a fully controllable incubator and an integrated sensor array, along with the appropriate readout system.

Innovation in areas such as power supplies, size reduction, biocompatibility, durability and lifespan is leading to a rapid increase in the range of devices and applications in the field of implantable biomedical microsystems, which are used for monitoring, diagnosing, and controlling the activities of the human body.

This book provides comprehensive coverage of the fundamental design principles for implantable systems, as well as several major application areas. Each component in an implantable system is described, and major case studies demonstrate how these systems can be designed and optimized for specific design objectives.

Beside low-power signal processing electronics for implantable systems, further topics covered include signal processing hardware, sensor selection, wireless telemetry devices, new types of bio-transducers, power management solutions, system integration techniques, computational algorithms, device packaging, and security measures.

Case studies include studies on implantable neural signal processors, brain-machine interface (BMI) systems, implantable pressure sensors, pacemakers, neural prosthesis, cochlear implant systems, bladder pressure monitoring for treating urinary incontinence, and drug delivery for cancer patients.

Implantable Biomedical Microsystems is the first comprehensive coverage of bioimplantable system design providing an invaluable information source for researchers in Biomedical, Electrical, Computer, Systems, and Mechanical Engineering as well as Engineers involved in design and development of implantable electronic systems and, more generally, Engineers working on low-power wireless applications.
First time comprehensive coverage of system-level and component-level design and engineering aspects for implantable microsystems.
Provides insight into a wide range of proven applications and application specific design trade-offs of bioimplantable systems, including several major case studies.
Enables Engineers involved in development of implantable electronic systems to optimize applications for specific design objectives."

1.1 Overview of Lab-on-Chip Laboratory-on-Chip (LoC) is a multidisciplinary approach used for the miniaturization, integration and automation of biological assays or procedures in analytical chemistry [1-3]. Biology and chemistry are experimental sciences that are continuing to evolve and develop new protocols. Each protocol offers step-by-step laboratory instructions, lists of the necessary equipments and required biological and/or chemical substances [4-7]. A biological or chemical laboratory contains various pieces of equipment used for performing such protocols and, as shown in Fig. 1.1, the engineering aspect of LoC design is aiming to embed all these components in a single chip for single-purpose applications. 1.1.1 Main Objectives of LoC Systems Several clear advantages of this technology over conventional approaches, including portability, full automation, ease of operation, low sample consumption and fast assays time, make LoC suitable for many applications including. 1.1.1.1 Highly Throughput Screening To conduct an experiment, a researcher fills a well with the required biological or chemical analytes and keeps the sample in an incubator for some time to allowing the sample to react properly. Afterwards, any changes can be observed using a microscope. In order to quickly conduct millions of biochemical or pharmacolo- cal tests, the researchers will require an automated highly throughput screening (HTS) [8], comprised of a large array of wells, liquid handling devices (e.g., mic- channel, micropump and microvalves [9-11]), a fully controllable incubator and an integrated sensor array, along with the appropriate readout system.

Science and engineering disciplines are provoking fundamental and applied discoveries in numerous applications, such as to deeply understand brain functions, precisely diagnose diseases, and to then properly address these. The later advances call upon biomedical integrated circuits and systems (BioCAS) to provide needed research tools. In fact, with the increase of the personalized healthcare market and BioCAS featuring wearability, implantability and intelligence, it has become significantly more important to address these emerging trends. These circuits and systems deal with various signals and images such as electrophysiological, electrochemical, optical, and magnetic, which require various front-end circuits to acquire signals and usually cancel out the noise. With the booming artificial intelligence methods, these biosignals became mandatory for the monitoring, detection, diagnosis and even prediction of diseases for example.This monograph focusses on the current research activities and emerging trends that relate to the above-mentioned functionalities, and it should be of interest to students, researchers and engineers active in the fields related to Circuits and Systems for Biomedical Engineering. Section I is a summary of the main BioCAS research interests, and in Section II various biosignal acquisition circuits techniques are discussed. In Section III the authors cover circuits for biosignal processing, with emphasis on the newly emerging artificial intelligence. Sections IV and V contain a review of wireless power harvesting and communication circuits. Sections VI and VII represent circuits that help miniaturizing biomedical imaging systems, and other systems intended for the detection of chemical and molecular assays. Section VIII describes one of the main neural prostheses intended to address vision disorders, whilst the last section reviews electrode-tissue interfaces that essentially bridge the circuits and systems with the human body.

This book provides a broad survey of the field of biochips, including fundamentals of microelectronics and biomaterials interaction with various, living tissues, as well as numerous, diverse applications. Although a wide variety of biochips will be described, there will be a focus on those at the brain-machine interface. Analysis is included of the relationship between different categories of biochips and their interactions with the body and coverage includes wireless remote control of biochips and arrays of microelectrodes, based on new biomaterials.