Next-generation healthcare infrastructure based on cross-layer optimization of biosignal sensing and communication

Abstract

The human body already uses electric signals to transmit information to and from the brain and the rest of the body but is there potential to harness the complex interactions between living organisms and electromagnetic waves to advance scientific disciplines? Associate Professor Dairoku Muramatsu is the head of the Muramatsu Laboratory. He leads the Bioelectromagnetics Research Group, Graduate School of Information Science and Engineering Mechanical and Intelligent Systems, University of Electro-Communications, Japan. He is a specialist in bioelectromagnetic engineering that spans engineering and medicine interested in the interactions between living organisms and electromagnetic waves and how improved understanding of these interactions could lead to practical, real-world impacts. A key principle behind Muramatsu's research is that by passing a weak electric current through the human body and using the body itself as a path for electric signals, it is possible to exchange information between people and objects that come into contact with them. He is working to create innovative and highly usable technology by making full use of simulation and manufacturing. As research on human body communication, which is wireless communication that uses the human body itself as a transmission path for high-frequency signals, findings will play a key role in the spread of wearable devices. Muramatsu has already proposed bioelectromagnetic models that serve as a tool for a wide range of bioelectronics and sensor designs, including non-invasive blood glucose monitoring using bioelectromagnetic response as an evaluation criterion.