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for each robot were enumerated, and then these requirements were generalized: a
typical nanorobot would require the ability to perform pumping, sensing, energy
control, communication, navigation, manipulation, and other related actions. The
chapter also considered control protocols that would be needed to ensure
nanorobots work safely and effectively. More information about the author and
this research can be found at the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing, http://
www.imm.org/.
Chapter 16 introduced several heterogeneous NEMS (NanoElectroMechani-
cal Systems) and MEMS (MicroElectroMechanical Systems) devices for biome-
dical diagnostics. It discussed the bio-inspired use of surface (or interface) tension
and the electrowetting force to drive fluid through spaces as small as a carbon
nanotube. It then discussed the Casmir effect, and noted its significance for
understanding NEMS components. The role, creation, and integration of nanos-
cale biosensors in medicine was emphasized. Finally, the chapter discussed the
operation of nanoscale biofuel cells. More information about this research may be
found at the home page of Professor Tzung Hsiai at University of Southern
California, http://bme.usc.edu/directory/faculty/primary-faculty/tzung-k-hsiai/.
Then, in Chapter 17, the possibility of implementing artificial brains was
discussed. It first motivated the idea of creating an artificial brain and why it
should use custom, carbon nanotube circuits. Specifically, carbon nanotubes are a
promising way to achieve three-dimensional interconnections and a small enough
size for large-scale artificial brains. It then described how carbon nanotubes can be
used to emulate a synapse, and showed SPICE simulations of such a device.
Finally, it discussed the feasibility of creating a complex, highly interconnected
system of neurons, with respect to future technology sizes and interconnection
complexity. More information about the authors and their research may be found
at the home page of Professor Alice Parker at University of Southern California,
http://ceng.usc.edu/
parker/.
Chapter 18 discussed the use of carbon nanotubes for biomedical applica-
tions. An essential step to allowing carbon nanotubes to interact with biological
systems is functionalization, the process of supplementing the carbon nanotubes
with molecules of particular functional groups. It gave a brief overview of
functionalization techniques, including non-covalent (structure preserving) and
covalent (structure modifying) functionalization. It then described many proposed
uses of carbon nanotubes, for applications such as miniaturized x-ray or radiation
devices, sensors, probes, drug delivery vehicles, implants, actuators, and more.
Some of the many challenges of using nanotubes were discussed, such as
fabrication reliability and toxicity. More information about the author may be
found at the home page of Professor Tulin Mangir at California State University,
Long Beach, http://www.csulb.edu/projects/npu/Tmangir_page/index.htm.
Last but not least, image processing applications of nanoscale spin-wave
architectures were discussed in Chapter 19. It was shown how the concurrent write
feature of the spin wave architecture can achieve constant time complexity with a
large spin-wave reconfigurable mesh for three common problems: labeling, convex
hull, and nearest neighbor search. It then discussed spin wave algorithms for the
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