Biohybrid image sensor array processes light like retinas
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A retina-inspired biohybrid image sensor array (BIOPIX) created by a team of researchers led by Thomas M. Brown, a professor of organic and biological electronic engineering at Tor Vergata University of Rome in Italy, responds to light in a way remarkably similar to the photoreceptor cells of a retina—in terms of speed and how it senses color. It generates detectable signals for light pulses of 20- to 50-microsecond durations, which are typical "slow" timescales found within real living retinas, and generates real-time images on a display.
In this webinar, Professor Brown will cover his team's proof-of-concept hybrid solid-liquid biocompatible image sensor array that integrates biological and artificial photodetector mechanisms via polymer semiconductor and water-based physiological media, inspired by animal retina architectures.
He will show that light combined with the same polymer materials can reduce the proliferation rate of living neuroblastoma cells by half.
Speaker:
Thomas M. Brown
Full Professor of Organic and Biological Electronics
Tor Vergata University of Rome
Thomas M. Brown is a full professor of organic and biological electronics at Tor Vergata University of Rome, and his current research focuses on indoor photovoltaics, perovskite solar cells, flexible solar cells, photovoltaic bioelectronics, and artificial retina models. He holds a physics degree from University of Rome La Sapienza, where he completed a thesis on crystalline/amorphous silicon heterojunctions. During 1996 to 1997, he investigated polysilicon thin-film transistors (TFTs) as a research assistant at Cambridge University. Brown investigated polymer organic light-emitting diodes for his Ph.D. at the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge (2001). From 2001 to 2005, he developed organic TFTs and E-Paper as senior engineer with Plastic Logic Ltd. In 2005 he was recipient of a "Re-entry" Fellowship awarded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research. And in 2006, he founded the Centre for Hybrid and Organic Solar Energy. Brown is the associate editor of Solar Energy.
