Search

The proper axial length of the eye is crucial for achieving emmetropia. In this study, we present a wireless battery-free eye modulation patch designed to correct high myopia and prevent relapse. The patch consists of piezoelectric transducers, an electrochemical micro-actuator, a drug microneedle array, μ-LEDs, a flexible circuit, and biocompatible encapsulation. The system can be wirelessly powered and controlled using external ultrasound. The electrochemical micro-actuator plays a key role in precisely shortening the axial length by driving the posterior sclera inward. This ensures accurate scene imaging on the retina for myopia eye. The drug microneedle array delivers riboflavin to the posterior sclera, and μ-LEDs' blue light induces collagen cross-linking, reinforcing sclera strength. In vivo experiments demonstrate that the patch successfully reduces the rabbit eye's axial length by ~1217 μm and increases sclera strength by 387%. The system operates effectively within the body without the need for batteries. Here, we show that the patch offers a promising avenue for clinically treating high myopia. The proper axial length of the eye is crucial for achieving emmetropia. Here, authors introduce a wireless battery-free eye modulation patch designed to correct high myopia and prevent relapse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proper axial length of the eye is crucial for achieving emmetropia. In this study, we present a wireless battery-free eye modulation patch designed to correct high myopia and prevent relapse. The patch consists of piezoelectric transducers, an electrochemical micro-actuator, a drug microneedle array, μ-LEDs, a flexible circuit, and biocompatible encapsulation. The system can be wirelessly powered and controlled using external ultrasound. The electrochemical micro-actuator plays a key role in precisely shortening the axial length by driving the posterior sclera inward. This ensures accurate scene imaging on the retina for myopia eye. The drug microneedle array delivers riboflavin to the posterior sclera, and μ-LEDs’ blue light induces collagen cross-linking, reinforcing sclera strength. In vivo experiments demonstrate that the patch successfully reduces the rabbit eye’s axial length by ~1217 μm and increases sclera strength by 387%. The system operates effectively within the body without the need for batteries. Here, we show that the patch offers a promising avenue for clinically treating high myopia.The proper axial length of the eye is crucial for achieving emmetropia. Here, authors introduce a wireless battery-free eye modulation patch designed to correct high myopia and prevent relapse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peripheral nerve stimulators have emerged as a crucial instrument in the realm of neurological disease, capable of modulating nerve activity through precisely targeted electrical stimulation to specific sites within the nervous system. Herein, a new wireless battery‐free peripheral nerve stimulation device for remote muscle activation is developed. The device with conch‐inspired bionic design can be wirelessly powered and controlled by a mobile phone playing audio via the piezoelectric effect. The device consists of two parts: a conch‐like signal‐intensifying piezoelectric resonator for converting acoustic wave into electrostimulation signal; and a pedestal with stimulation electrodes for transmitting the electrostimulation signal to a peripheral nerve. For remote nerve intervention, a programmed audio tone from one mobile phone can be tele‐transmitted from other phones according to the desired stimulation protocols. In‐vivo experiments in stimulating the sciatic nerve in mice showed that the device can activate muscles (e.g., 1 Hz 920 mV for 26 degree of leg movement), and the neuron‐muscle interaction has been confirmed by electromyogram (EMG). The wireless peripheral nerve stimulation conch achieves feasible remote muscle activation without batteries, and can extend the scope of self‐powered techniques for telemedicine and limb/trunk rehabilitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-powered wearable sensing systems have attracted great attention for their application in continuous health monitoring, which can reveal real-time physiological information on the body. Here, an innovative self-powered sound-driven humidity sensor for wearable intelligent dehydration monitoring system has been proposed. The sensor is primarily comprised of PTFE membrane, ZnO nanoarrays and Ti thin film. The piezoelectric/triboelectric effect of ZnO nanoarrays/PTFE membrane is coupled with the humidity sensing process. Sound wave can drive PTFE membrane to vibrate, and the contact and separation between PTFE and ZnO can generate electrical signals through piezoelectric/triboelectric effect. At the same time, the surface of the nanostructures can absorb the water molecules, which will influence the electrical output of the device. The device can convert sound energy into electrical output without any external electricity power supply, and the outputting voltage decreases with increasing relative humidity, acting as the sensing signal. The sensor has been integrated with data processing unit and wireless transmission module to form a self-powered wearable intelligent dehydration monitoring system, which can actively monitor the humidity of exhaled breath and transmit the information to the mobile phone. The results can open a possible new direction for the development of sound-driven gas sensors and will further expand the scope for self-powered nanosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This letter proposes a wide-range reconfigurable bandpass filter (WRBPF) based on the cross-shape triple-mode resonator. Varactor diodes and switching diodes are utilized at the ends of the resonator and the positions of external coupling, which combines the two working modes of the low-frequency band and high-frequency band, greatly broaden the tunable range of the center frequency ($f_{0}$). When the 3-dB bandwidth of WRBPF is 180 MHz, $f_{0}$ can be adjusted from 0.78 to 1.93 GHz, and the relative adjustment range is 84.9%. When $f_{0}$ is 1.355 GHz, the absolute bandwidth can be adjusted from 110 to 950 MHz, and the relative bandwidth adjustment range is 8.1%–70.1%. Moreover, the circuit size of WRBPF is only $0.29\,\,\lambda g\,\,\times 0.22\,\,\lambda g$. The experimental results show that WRBPF has not only a simple structure but also an excellent performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a reconfigurable bandpass filter with a wide tunable range, which is achieved by connecting two tunable passbands with switching diodes. A pair of transmission zeros (TZs) are introduced through the cross‐coupling structure to improve the passband selectivity of the filter, and one more transmission zero is added by the interdigital coupling line to enhance the out‐of‐band suppression and broaden the upper stopband. The simulation and experimental results show that the designed filter with an absolute bandwidth of 100 MHz realizes a tunable frequency band covering 1.5–3 GHz, corresponding to a fractional tunable range of 66.7%. The dimension of the fabricated filter is 0.32 λg × 0.34 λg. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Device-assisted practice for instrument learning has been widely used by professional and amateur musicians to improve their learning efficiency. This study fabricates a novel self-powered and flexible player-interactive patch for guitar-learning assistance based on a piezoelectric T-ZnO/PVDF film. The system consists primarily of three parts: a flexible piezoelectric T-ZnO/PVDF film for pressure sensing, a signal processing module for analyzing the sensed signal, and light-emitting diode (LED) indicators for visualizing guitar performance. The sensing film can be conformably fixed on a guitar and can convert the mechanical energy generated by pressing a finger on a string into a piezoelectric signal without any external power supply. The output voltage of the film can act as a sensing signal for guitar performance, and both the response and recovery times are short. As fingers press on different strings, a series of piezoelectric signals are generated and transferred to the signal processing module, subsequently lighting up LEDs of different colors. The actions of the fingers during guitar playing are reflected by the corresponding LED indicators. The proposed system can help players adjust their posture and rhythm in real time, thus improving their playing technique. This study demonstrates the potential application of self-powered sensing systems in musical instrument learning assistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH) arrays are practical solutions to the low and unreliable power output of a single PEH. However, most PEH circuits are developed for addressing the one-channel ac input from a single PEH. In this article, an extensible rectifier-less synchronized switch harvesting on inductor (ReL-SSHI) array interface with the maximal power point tracking (MPPT) function to manage the multiple ac inputs from the PEH arrays is designed. The ac–dc conversion is performed by the ReL-SSHI topology with passive peak switches featured with self-powered characteristic and fast cold-start. Only one shared inductor is employed, greatly reducing the circuit volume and cost. The MPPT module for each channel is implemented by a simple envelope detector and an ultra-low power hysteresis controller and achieves continuous energy extraction by adapting the fractional normal-operation voltage method. A developed discrete array interface able to handle three PEHs effectively executes the MPPT for each channel with the uphill and downhill response speeds of 2.0 and 7.1 V/s, and a maximal MPPT efficiency of 97.1%. This circuit boosts the power output by 485% compared with that by the traditional full-bridge rectifier, around 33% higher than that from existing synchronous electric charge extraction array interfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH) arrays are promising in many application scenarios. However, few interface circuits have been developed to manage the multiple ac inputs from PEHs. This article proposes an extensible parallel synchronized switch harvesting on inductor array interface scheme to realize a multiinput conversion from PEH arrays. We develop a split-inductor-capacitor topology that can extract electrical energy from multiple PEHs. The proposed circuit topology effectively handles the inductor access conflict in the cases of PEHs with close, identical, and opposite vibration phases, insensitive to ac input phase changes. For demonstrating the capability of dealing with multiple ac inputs from PEHs and the enhancement effect on power output, we construct and test a self-powered three-channel array circuit with the passive peak detection function. Excited by sinusoidal vibrations, our circuit effectively avoids the energy return and efficiently achieves the power combination of the three PEHs. Compared with the classic full-bridge circuit, the proposed circuit helps increase the power output by 4.8 times. Also, to show the universality of the circuit, the circuit's operation under various excitations istested and analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A channel-continuous triplexer (CCT) with multiple transmission zeros (TZs) is designed and processed by cascading the high-pass filter (HPF) and low-pass filter (LPF) through the matching branches. The CCT is realized based on the substrate integrated suspended line (SISL) technology. The out-of-band suppression (OBS) and roll-off rate (ROR) of CCT are improved by the TZs introduced by cross-coupling lines between the nonadjacent branches in the HPFs and high-low impedance microstrip line T junction in LPFs. The experimental results show that CCT covers 4–7 GHz by three continuous bandwidth-identical passbands with the fractional bandwidths (FBWs) of 22.2%, 18.1%, and 15.3%, respectively. The insertion loss within three passbands is less than 1.7 dB, the out-of-band rejection is more than 50 dB, and the ROR is greater than 200 dB/GHz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neonatal jaundice refers to the abnormality of bilirubin metabolism for newborns, and wearable transcutaneous bilirubin meters for real-time measuring the bilirubin concentration is an insistent demand for the babies' parents and doctors. In this paper, a self-powered wearable biosensor in a baby diaper for real-time monitoring neonatal jaundice has been realized by the hydrovoltaic-biosensing coupling effect of ZnO nanoarray. Without external power supply, the system can work independently, and the hydrovoltaic output can be treated as both the power source and biosensing signal. The working mechanism is that the hydrovoltaic output arises from the urine flowing on ZnO nanoarray and the enzymatic reaction on the surface can influence the output. The sensing information can be transmitted through a wireless transmitter, and thus the parents and doctors can treat the neonatal jaundice of babies in time. This work can potentially promote the development of next generation of biosensors and physiological monitoring system, and expand the scope of self-powered technique and smart healthcare area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Softening of piezoelectric materials facilitates the development of flexible wearables and energy harvesting devices. However, as one of the most competitive candidates, piezoelectric ceramic-polymer composites inevitably exhibit reduced power-generation capability and weak mechanical strength due to the mismatch of strength and permittivity between the two phases inside. Herein a flexible, air-permeable, and high-performance piezoceramic textile composite with a mechanically reinforced hierarchical porous structure is introduced. Based on a template-assisted sol-gel method, a three-order hierarchical ceramic textile is constructed by intertwining submillimeter-scale multi-ply ceramic fibers that are further formed by twisting micrometer-scale one-ply ceramic fibrils. Theoretical analysis indicates that large mechanical stress can be easily induced in the multi-order hierarchical structure, which greatly benefits the electrical output. Fabricated samples generate an opencircuit voltage of 128 V, a short-circuit current of 120 μA, and an instantaneous power density of 0.75 mW cm-2, much higher than the previously reported works. The developed multi-order and 3D-interconnected piezoceramic textile shows satisfactory piezoelectricity (d33 of 190 pm V-1), air permeability (45.1 mm s-1), flexibility (Young's modulus of 0.35 GPa), and toughness (0.125 MJ m-3), collectively. The design strategy of obtaining balanced properties promotes the practicality of smart/functional materials in wearables and flexible electronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To merge the gap between the low-power output of piezoelectric energy harvesters (PEHs) and the high-power demand of sensors of Internet of Things, researchers recently start to explore PEHs arrays. However, few circuits have been developed to manage the multiple ac inputs from PEHs arrays. This article presents a self-powered PEH array interface circuit based on the synchronized switching and discharging to a storage capacitor through an inductor (SSDCI) technique. The array interface can output a maximum total power greater than the sum of each individual peak power, and achieve a high efficiency when multiple PEHs connect to the SSDCI array circuit. Simulation and experiment are performed to demonstrate the advantages of the SSDCI array interface. The tested results show that the designed SSDCI array circuit achieves an efficiency of 82.3% with three input sources, and allows a gain up to 300% in terms of maximal output power compared to the full-bridge rectifier. In addition, only the peak detection is utilized for the switching control; therefore, the SSDCI array circuit is realized more easily and with fewer components compared to the existing synchronous electric charge extraction array interfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high-temperature superconductor (HTS) bandpass filter with special asymmetric cul-de-sac units (SACUs) is introduced and a compact low-radiating microstrip resonator is suggested for the filter realization. Such a filter is capable of providing better selectivity and higher out-of-band rejection and hence a decrease in adjacent-channel interference, which is of critical importance for mobile communication. This improvement of the filter characteristics results from an increase in the number of pairs of transmission zeros (TZs) on the imaginary axis on the complex plane when using the filter composed of the introduced SACUs, each providing a pair of TZs. An 11-pole filter consisting of two SACUs was fabricated using MgO substrate of 0.5 mm thickness with double-sided YBCO HTS film. Characterization of the filter at 77 K gave a central frequency of 2345 MHz, insertion loss 0.19 dB, an overall in-band return loss better than 15 dB, and an ultra-high band-edge steepness as a consequence of the two pairs of TZs. The measured characteristics are in good accord with those obtained by electromagnetic simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel multimode dual-ring ultrawideband (UWB) bandpass filter is proposed in this article, which is constructed by loading open stubs in the horizontal and vertical directions of the dual-ring resonator. Five modes are evenly distributed in the passband, and a pair of transmission zeros are introduced to the left and right transition bands to enhance selectivity. Parallel-coupled lines ensure external coupling strength for realizing the UWB, and a cross junction suppresses spurious in high frequencies to expand the upper stopband. For demonstration, a quintuple-mode high-temperature superconducting UWB bandpass filter is designed on the 0.5 mm thick MgO substrate with double-sided YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO) films. The test results show that the 3-dB bandwidth covers 2.56 to 11.15 GHz, the in-band return loss greater than 15 dB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A miniaturized eight-order quasi-elliptic function filter configuration with controllable transmission zeros (TZs) is proposed. Without changing the overall layout of the filter, two pairs of TZs are introduced by adopting two cascaded quadruplet (CQ) units to improve the suppression of the filter. At the same time, a cross capacitance coupling is introduced to combine the two CQ units to realize the synchronous adjustment of these two pairs of TZs. Through using this configuration, it not only helps realize the miniaturization of the filter, but also reduces the complexity of adjusting the two CQ units individually. Finally, an eight-order high-temperature superconducting filter with two pairs of TZs is designed on a double-sided YBCO/MgO/YBCO thin film with a size of 15.95 mm × 7.91 mm, a thickness of 0.5 mm, and a dielectric constant of 9.8. At 77 K, the measured central frequency of the filter is 2000 MHz, the bandwidth is 35 MHz, the out-of-band rejection is greater than 60 dB/MHz, the insertion loss is less than 0.22 dB, the return loss is better than 15.8 dB, and the test results are in good agreement with the simulated ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A miniaturized high temperature superconducting (HTS) ultra‐wideband (UWB) bandpass filter (BPF) is presented based on stub‐loaded multi‐mode resonator (SLMMR) in this letter. This SLMMR constructed by loading three sets of different open stubs on a stepped‐impedance resonator brings five resonant modes into the passband for UWB bandwidth and a pair of transmission zeros in the transition bands for high selectivity. The filter is finally designed and fabricated on a 0.5‐mm thick MgO substrate with double‐sided YBCO HTS films. At 77 K, the measured results show that the 3‐dB bandwidth covers 3.0 GHz‐12.0 GHz; the minimum insertion loss is 0.11 dB; the return loss is better than 15.75 dB; the out‐of‐band rejection is greater than 24.35 dB in the lower stopband, and the upper stopband with 20 dB attenuation level is extended to 16.77 GHz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new method is proposed to produce even finite transmission zeros without any cross-coupling between the resonators of filter, by loading the second-order extracted-pole unit (EPU) composed of two mutual coupled resonators at the input or output port of the filter. An arbitrary distribution of finite transmission zeros on the imaginary axis can be achieved by adjusting the resonant frequencies of resonators in the EPUs and the coupling strength between them. The finite transmission zeros can be symmetrically or asymmetrically distributed about the center frequency of the filter, even all on the same side outside the passband of the filter. And the topological structures of these filters are given in this paper. Besides, Cauchy method is adopted to analyze the proposed EPU configuration filter as well. This paper not only discusses how to implement a pair and two pairs of finite transmission zeros, and how to control the distribution of finite transmission zeros, but also gives multiple sets of computer-aided synthesized normalized coupling matrices. Based on this, an eighth-order quasi-elliptic function high-temperature superconducting filter with two pairs of finite transmission zeros was designed on a double-sided YBCO/LaAlO3/YBCO films to verify the feasibility of this new structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a novel trapezoidal meander-line resonator (TMLR) is proposed to design compact high-order high-temperature superconducting (HTS) linear phase bandpass filters with cascaded quadruplet (CQ) structures. By changing the conventional rectangle half-wavelength meander-line microstrip resonator into a trapezoidal resonator, unnecessary cross coupling between nonadjacent resonators in the CQ units can be avoided. And using the proposed TMLR to design the CQ unit, electric field cross coupling or magnetic field cross coupling can be easily achieved and tuned without the cross-coupling line. To further demonstrate the feasibility of using this configuration for miniaturized circuit design, an 8-order HTS linear phase filter with one pair of transmission zeros was designed. The measured responses agree very well with the simulated results. The physical HTS filter has a center frequency of 1935 MHz and bandwidth of 70 MHz. The out-of-band rejection is greater than 50 dB, and the effective bandwidth of group delay fluctuation less than ±3 ns takes up more than 65% in the whole passband. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel compact high-temperature superconducting low-pass filter (LPF) with an ultrawide stopband, excellent out-of-band rejection, and a low insertion loss is presented. This filter consists of a four-order LPF constructed by four interdigital hairpin stepped-impedance resonators (IHSIRs) and two pairs of radial stubs (RSs) in the input and output ports of the filter. The four-order IHSIR LPF brings transmission zeros for a high selectivity, and the RSs exhibit a characteristic of extending the LPF’s stopband effectively. The proposed LPF with cutoff frequency $f_{c}$ at 3 GHz is implemented on a 0.5-mm-thick MgO wafer with double-sided YBCO films. The measured results show a 30-dB harmonic suppression from $1.08f_{c}$ to $7f_{c}$ , a steep roll-off of 197.1 dB/GHz, and an in-band insertion loss less than 0.13 dB. Moreover, the LPF possesses a miniaturized size of $0.21\lambda _{\text {gc}} \times 0.03\lambda _{\text {gc}}$. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This letter presents a new multimode ring resonator ultrawideband (UWB) bandpass filter by loading a microstrip line on the vertical symmetrical plane of a ring resonator and a pair of stepped-impedance open stubs at the center of this microstrip line. Five modes are allocated within UWB band, and a pair of transmission zeros are introduced to improve the passband selectivity. By adopting the parallel-coupled lines, not only suitable external coupling is achieved, but also the performance of upper stopband is improved. This quintuple-mode high-temperature superconducting UWB filter is designed on a 0.5-mm-thick MgO substrate with double-sided YBCO films. The measured results show that 3-dB bandwidth covers 1.57–6.51 GHz, the return loss is better than 10.70 dB, the out-of-band rejection is greater than 24.75 dB in the lower stopband, and the upper stopband with 20-dB attenuation level is extended to about 9 GHz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel self-powered wearable motion sensor for monitoring the spiking gesture of volleyball athletes has been manufactured from piezoelectric PVDF film. The PVDF film can convert body mechanical energy into electricity through the piezoelectric effect, and the flexible device can be conformably attached on the hand or arm. The sensor can work independently without power supply and actively output piezoelectric signals as the sports information. The sensor can detect the tiny and fine motion of spiking movement in playing volleyball, reflecting the skill. Additionally, the sensor can also real-time monitor the pulse changes and language during a volleyball match. The self-powered sensors can link to a wireless transmitter for uploading the sports information and building big sports data. This work can provoke a new direction for real-time sports monitoring and promote the development of big sports data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high-performance miniaturized multi-mode ultra-wide band (UWB) filter is proposed in this paper. The simple compact quintuple-mode resonator is constructed by loading three sets of open stubs on a modified conventional triple-mode resonator. Even and odd mode analytical methods are applied to analyze it. In addition, the function of each part of the filter is studied in cases of weak/strong coupling. In order to further improve the insertion loss, selectivity and out-of-band suppression, the designed filter is finally fabricated on double-sided YBCO/MgO/YBCO high-temperature superconducting (HTS) film. The test results show that the HTS UWB filter has excellent performance, and the simulation results are in good agreement with the test ones. The 3-dB bandwidth covers 3.6 ~ 13.2 GHz. The maximum insertion loss in the band was only 0.32 dB, and the reflection was better than –15.1 dB. The band-edge roll-off rate was 56 dB/GHz and the upper stopband with 20 dB rejection extended to 20.7 GHz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]