{"title":"Message From the Incoming Editor-in-Chief","authors":"Sasitharan Balasubramaniam","doi":"10.1109/TMBMC.2023.3248979","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/TMBMC.2023.3248979","url":null,"abstract":"Iam truly honored to serve as the next Editor-in-Chief of IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MOLECULAR, BIOLOGICAL, AND MULTI- SCALE COMMUNICATIONS (TMBMC) journal. I am taking on this role after Prof. Urbashi Mitra (Founding EiC) and Prof. Andrew Eckford (Founding Associate EiC), who led the journal from 2015–2018, followed by Prof. Chan-Byoung Chae, who was in this role from 2019–2022. I am truly indebted to the past EiCs for their tireless leadership and efforts in leading T-MBMC in a growing area and laying all the foundation for me to continue. There are always challenges with new and emerging areas as we build a community that touches on the frontiers of engineering, and molecular communications is a great example.","PeriodicalId":36530,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological, and Multi-Scale Communications","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-03-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel7/6687308/10077810/10077838.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67903329","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Guest Editorial Introduction to the Special Feature on the 6th Workshop on Molecular Communications","authors":"Hamidreza Arjmandi;Hamdan Awan;Huy Tran;Maximilian Schäfer;Werner Haselmayr;Adam Noel","doi":"10.1109/TMBMC.2023.3244020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/TMBMC.2023.3244020","url":null,"abstract":"The Workshop on Molecular Communications (MolCom; \u0000<uri>https://molecularcommunications.org</uri>\u0000) has been held annually since 2016 to provide the molecular communication research community an opportunity to meet and share their work, vision, and experience in the field. Given the interdisciplinary nature of molecular communication, the Workshop promotes research beyond the conventional disciplinary boundaries between engineering, the physical sciences, natural sciences, and medicine.","PeriodicalId":36530,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological, and Multi-Scale Communications","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-03-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel7/6687308/10077810/10077829.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67903349","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"IEEE Communications Society Information","authors":"","doi":"10.1109/TMBMC.2022.3232249","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/TMBMC.2022.3232249","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":36530,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological, and Multi-Scale Communications","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-03-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel7/6687308/10077810/10077812.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67903312","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological, and Multi-Scale Communications Publication Information","authors":"","doi":"10.1109/TMBMC.2022.3232247","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/TMBMC.2022.3232247","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":36530,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological, and Multi-Scale Communications","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-03-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel7/6687308/10077810/10077826.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67903330","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Stefan Angerbauer;Medina Hamidovic;Franz Enzenhofer;Max Bartunik;Jens Kirchner;Andreas Springer;Werner Haselmayr
{"title":"Salinity-Based Molecular Communication in Microfluidic Channels","authors":"Stefan Angerbauer;Medina Hamidovic;Franz Enzenhofer;Max Bartunik;Jens Kirchner;Andreas Springer;Werner Haselmayr","doi":"10.1109/TMBMC.2023.3277391","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/TMBMC.2023.3277391","url":null,"abstract":"In this work, we present a novel portable, flexible and easy-to-use experimental setup for investigating salinity-based information transmission in microfluidic channels. At the receiver, the different salinity-levels are detected by a customized electronic circuit, which measures electrical conductivity via electrodes in the microfluidic channel. We provide a detailed description of the setup, including the microfluidic chip fabrication. Moreover, we develop a rigorous mathematical model of each testbed component and an end-to-end model of the system, which we have verified through experiments. Finally, we analyzed the error performance of the setup using optimum and sub-optimum detection algorithms, such as the Viterbi algorithm and threshold detection.","PeriodicalId":36530,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological, and Multi-Scale Communications","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel7/6687308/10157988/10127981.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68020461","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ismael Diez Perez;Sierin Lim;Christian A. Nijhuis;Olivier Pluchery;Christopher J. Rourk
{"title":"Electron Tunneling in Ferritin and Associated Biosystems","authors":"Ismael Diez Perez;Sierin Lim;Christian A. Nijhuis;Olivier Pluchery;Christopher J. Rourk","doi":"10.1109/TMBMC.2023.3275793","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/TMBMC.2023.3275793","url":null,"abstract":"Ferritin is a 12 nanometer (nm) diameter iron storage protein complex that is found in most plants and animals. A substantial body of evidence has established that electrons can tunnel through and between ferritin protein nanoparticles and that it exhibits Coulomb blockade behavior, which is also seen in quantum dots and nanoparticles. This evidence can be used to understand the behavior of these particles for use in nanoelectronic devices, for biomedical applications and for investigation of quantum biological phenomena. Ferritin also has magnetic properties that make it useful for applications such as memristors and as a contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging. This article provides a short overview of this evidence, as well as evidence of ferritin structures in vivo and of tunneling in those structures, with an emphasis on ferritin structures in substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) neurons. Potential biomedical applications that could utilize these ferritin protein nanoparticles are also discussed.","PeriodicalId":36530,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological, and Multi-Scale Communications","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel7/6687308/10157988/10123991.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68018594","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An Adaptable Lateral Resolution Acoustic Beamforming for the Internet of Bio-Nano Things in the Brain","authors":"Hanna Firew;Michael Taynnan Barros","doi":"10.1109/TMBMC.2023.3274430","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/TMBMC.2023.3274430","url":null,"abstract":"The Internet of Bio-Nano Things in the Brain are minimally invasive untethered links between the brain tissue and silicon platforms. Even though these interfaces have been envisioned for many biomedical applications, it is unclear how the ultimate technology will support spatially distributed networks. In this paper, we address the distributed power allocation through adaptable beamforming by varying the acoustic beam lateral resolution. Our results show improvements in average power transfer efficiency for sparser beams compared to narrower ones for a randomly placed network of implantable devices with 15 nodes within a 4mm2 space in the neocortex.","PeriodicalId":36530,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological, and Multi-Scale Communications","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68020460","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Modelling and Simulations of Collective Bio-Nanomachine Rotation in 3-D Space","authors":"Jiewen Wang;Tadashi Nakano","doi":"10.1109/TMBMC.2023.3275542","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/TMBMC.2023.3275542","url":null,"abstract":"Controlling a spatio-temporal structure that groups of bio-nanomachines form is a key objective for engineering innovative applications such as artificial organs and biological robots. Our previous work aimed to create a large-scale system of bio-nanomachines and developed a collective rotational motion model to describe their behavior. The main idea in developing the model is that spinning objects are stable against perturbations, meaning that a rotating cluster of bio-nanomachines may be stable and suitable for large-scale bio-nanomachine systems to be engineered for applications. In this paper, we first extend our previous model from two-dimensions to three-dimensions. We then conduct simulation experiments using the extended model and demonstrate that a group of bio-nanomachines forms a three-dimensional cluster that continues to rotate around the central axis of the cluster. This paper makes an important step toward developing computational tools to study spatio-temporal structure formation of bio-nanomachines in three dimensions.","PeriodicalId":36530,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological, and Multi-Scale Communications","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68018595","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yi Liu;Eunkyoung Kim;Dana Motabar;Zhiling Zhao;Deanna L. Kelly;William E. Bentley;Gregory F. Payne
{"title":"Redox-Enabled Bio-Electronics for Information Acquisition and Transmission","authors":"Yi Liu;Eunkyoung Kim;Dana Motabar;Zhiling Zhao;Deanna L. Kelly;William E. Bentley;Gregory F. Payne","doi":"10.1109/TMBMC.2023.3274112","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/TMBMC.2023.3274112","url":null,"abstract":"Biology uses an electron-based modality that involves reduction and oxidation (redox) reactions, and this redox modality has both molecular and electrical features. Importantly, the electrical features are accessible to convenient electrode measurements, but this electron-based redox modality is fundamentally different from biology’s ion-based electrical modality that is prominent in neural and neuromuscular communication. Here, we review recent efforts to develop redox based bioelectronics for the acquisition of information and actuation of responses. Specifically, we illustrate how electrodes enable comparatively simple modulation/demodulation because electrodes readily transduce electrical inputs into redox-signals– in some cases, the same redox signals (i.e., reactive oxygen species; ROS) used by biology. The propagation of redox signals occurs through diffusion and reaction mechanisms involving redox reaction networks. We further describe how advanced biological methods (protein engineering and synthetic biology) are being used to enable a targeting of redox inputs to actuate specific responses at molecular (i.e., protein conjugation) and cellular (i.e., electrogenetic) levels. In summary, we envision that redox-based bioelectronics could enable entirely new opportunities for applying electronics to: provide new experimental approaches for the study of redox-biology; yield systems-level measurements for clinical practice; and facilitate a fusion of the information-processing capabilities of biology and electronics.","PeriodicalId":36530,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological, and Multi-Scale Communications","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68020458","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Wayan Wicke;Rebecca C. Felsheim;Lukas Brand;Vahid Jamali;Helene M. Loos;Andrea Buettner;Robert Schober
{"title":"Pulse Shaping for MC via Particle Size","authors":"Wayan Wicke;Rebecca C. Felsheim;Lukas Brand;Vahid Jamali;Helene M. Loos;Andrea Buettner;Robert Schober","doi":"10.1109/TMBMC.2023.3254436","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/TMBMC.2023.3254436","url":null,"abstract":"In molecular communication (MC), combining different types of particles at the transmitter is a degree of freedom which can be utilized to improve performance. In this paper, we address the problem of pulse shaping to simplify time synchronization requirements by exploiting and combining the received signal characteristics of particles of different sizes. In particular, we optimize the mixture of particles of different sizes used for transmission in order to support a prescribed detection time period for on-off keying, guaranteeing on average 1) a sufficiently large received signal if a binary one is transmitted, and 2) a low enough received signal if a binary zero is transmitted even in the presence of inter-symbol interference. For illustration, we consider an optimization problem based on a free space diffusion channel model. It is shown that there is a tradeoff between the maximum feasible detection duration and the peak detection value for different particle sizes from the smallest particle size enabling the largest detection duration to the largest particle size minimizing the peak detection value at the expense of a limited detection duration.","PeriodicalId":36530,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological, and Multi-Scale Communications","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-03-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67857588","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}