Error Performance and Mutual Information for IoNT Interface System

Abstract

Molecular communication and the Internet of Nanothings (IoNT) are emerging research hotspots recently, which show great potential in biomedical applications inside the human body. However, how to transmit information from inside body IoNTs to outside devices is seldomly studied. It is well known that the nervous system is responsible for perceiving the external environment and controlling the feedback signals. It exactly works like an interface between the external and internal environment. Inspired by this, this article proposes a novel concept that one can use the modified nervous system to communicate between IoNT devices and <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">in vitro</i> equipments. In our proposed system, nanomachines transmit signals via stimulating the nerve fiber by the electrode. Then, the signals transmit along nerve fibers and muscle fibers. Finally, they cause changes in surface electromyography (sEMG) signals, which can be decoded by the body surface receiver. This article presents the framework of this entire through-body communication system. Each part of the framework is also mathematically modeled. The error probability and mutual information of the system are derived from the communication theory perspective, which are evaluated and analyzed through numerical results. This study can pave the way for the connection of IoNT <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">in vivo</i> to external networks.