IntraBioNets

NeTS: IntraBioNets: Foundational Models of Heterogeneous Intrabody Biomolecular Communication Network Links for the Internet of Bio-NanoThings 
Agency: National Science Foundation 
Sponsor Award Number: 1763969 
PI: Ian Akyildiz2
Co-PI: Massimiliano Pierobon1
Co-PI: Ulkuhan Guler3
Start/End Dates: 10/01/2018 - 09/30/2020

1Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
2School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
3Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Classical telecommunications solutions fail to meet size, environmental and bio-compatibility constraints to realize communication networks for the next-generation nanotechnology and synthetic-biology-enabled electrical and biological wearable and implantable devices, i.e., the Internet of Bio-Nano Things. On the other hand, the direct contact of these devices with the human body, where the cells naturally communicate and interconnect into networks, suggests a novel way of interconnection exploiting the natural mechanisms of biological communication. The goal of the IntraBioNets project is to address fundamental challenges in the development of a self-sustainable and bio-compatible network infrastructure based on these biological communication channels. In particular, the IntraBioNets project focuses on the development of fundamental models of usable communication channels on top of the biological processes underlying the Microbiome-Gut-Brain Axis (MGBA), composed of the gut microbial community, the gut tissues, the enteric nervous system, and their interconnects.

MBiTe Lab students on the project:

Products from MBiTe Lab:

  • Akyildiz, I. F., Pierobon, M. , and Balasubramaniam, S. "An Information Theoretic Framework to Analyze Molecular Communication Systems Based on Statistical Mechanics," Proceedings of the IEEE, vol. 107, no. 7, pp. 1230-1255, July 2019. [PDF]
  • Sakkaff, Z., Unluturk, B. D., and Pierobon, M. "Applying Molecular Communication Theory toMulti- Scale Integrated Models of Biological Pathways," Proceedings of ACM Nanocom (2019). 
  • Akyildiz, I. F., Chen, J., Ghovanloo, M., Guler, U., Ozkaya-Ahmadov, T., Pierobon, M., Sarioglu, A. F., Unluturk, B. D. ,  "Microbiome-Gut-Brain Axis as a Biomolecular Communication Network for the Internet of Bio-NanoThings," IEEE Access, vol. 7, pp. 136161-136175, September 2019. [PDF]