Effect of ingestible device materials in magnetic localization systems

Imec, in collaboration with its sister institute OnePlanet in the Netherlands, are performing research in novel ingestible sensors that can measure various parameters of the gastro-intestinal tract which currently cannot easily be measured in a non-invasive way.

For this purpose, it is important for the ingestible sensor to have knowledge of its relative position in the gastrointestinal tract since the propagation speed can vary widely. As part of this research, concepts have been defined for such positioning, from which magnetic-based methods stand out as one of the best performing approaches.

Initial performance evaluations have been done, but it is necessary to evaluate the effect of materials typically present in ingestible devices on the localization performance. For this, the purpose of the work is to propose and execute a set of experiments using existing prototypes to estimate the performance of the localization system when packed in a small ingestible form factor along with other components and materials that are required for the functioning of the device.

This includes working with prototypes developed at imec, but also proposing new solutions to overcome the challenges of such system integration. Solutions may range from specific hardware configurations to improvements in the localization algorithms to compensate for such effects.

This work will involve hands-on work with hardware, signal acquisition and low-level signal processing in Python and/or Matlab, as well as possibly some embedded firmware programming in C.

Skills required: mixed signal (analog and digital) electronic circuit knowledge, test and measurement skills, embedded microcontroller firmware programming in C, at least basic experience with Python and Matlab, hands-on attitude.

For additional information and for applications please contact Ivan Castro (ivand.castro@imec.be)