- Email: [email protected]
Bio-Nano Communications Networks and Systems
Nano Communication Networks 6 (2015) 153–154
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Nano Communication Networks journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/nanocomnet
Editorial
Bio-Nano Communications Networks and Systems
Advancements made in micro/nano technologies for interfacing, controlling, and manipulating biology show the potential of exploiting the functionalities of biological organisms for designing and engineering communication systems and networks. For example, the human nervous system, which consists of several billion neurons located in the brain, the spinal cord, and within nerves throughout the body, truly forms an electrochemical computation and communication network at the nanoscale. A remarkable aspect of the nervous system is its capability to process a huge amount of information coming from both outside and inside the body, encoded as sequences of electrochemical spikes, or action potentials. Another example is given by signaling pathways, where information is propagated among cells through molecule exchange, at the basis of major cellular functionalities such as cell growth, differentiation, homeostasis, and tissue formation. A vast amount of applications, ranging from medical status monitoring to targeted drug delivery, can potentially stem from novel technologies to exploit the aforementioned biological functionalities, and their development poses numerous theoretical and practical challenges. This special issue is dedicated to the modeling, simulation, communication and information-theoretic study, network analysis, signal processing, and application-specific design of biological systems for communications. After rigorous peer-review process, we have selected 4 papers for the inclusion in this special issue. In the following we provide a brief summary of the papers. The first paper ‘‘Survey and Evaluation of Neural Computation Models for Bio-integrated Systems’’ by F. Christophe, V. Andalibi, T. Laukkarinen, T. Mikkonen, and K. Koskimies surveys the computational models of spiking neurons and their connectivity change known as plasticity. The review includes neural cultures and model efficiency in terms of neural firing patters, computation, parameter adjustability, and real time implementation. The second paper ‘‘A Queueing-Theoretical Delay Analysis for Intra-body Nervous Nanonetwork’’ by N.A. Abbasi and O.B. Akan presents a queuing theory-based delay http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nancom.2015.11.003 1878-7789/ © 2015 Published by Elsevier B.V.
analysis model for neuro-spike communication between two neurons. It takes inspiration from computer network theory and makes use of queueing model blocks based on servers, queues and fork-join networks, impulse reception, and processing in the nervous system. Computer simulation studies are performed to study the response time. The third paper ‘‘Cellular Communication via Directed Protrusion Growth: Critical Length-Scales and Membrane Morphology’’ by H. Zhang, A. Kim, S. Xu, G.D. Jeffries, and A. Jesorka includes an investigation of the growth of cell protrusions from adherent cells and their capability to bridge microgaps, and the definition of a critical length scale for this phenomenon. The study includes experimental observations of molecular transport in cellto-cell connections across microgaps by calcium ion diffusion and intracellular connections in nano and micro size cells. The fourth paper ‘‘Astrocyte–Neuron Communication as Cascade of Equivalent Circuits’’ by F. Mesiti, M. Veletić, P.A. Floor, and I. Balasingham describes the calcium signaling in intercellular ion flow for neuronal communication. The study considers glial cells in astrocytes and explains how these cells communicate and bind on the neuronal receptors. The derived models based on equivalent circuits with feedback loop are proposed for the future design and development of neurological circuits and systems. As summarized by the papers, this special issue highlights recent results and outlines key issues in understanding biological communication functionalities. Advancements of this field in the design, development, and test of bio-nano communications networks and systems are particular important to demonstrate their practical use for future applications, especially in healthcare. We believe this special issue will inspire the readership and indicate a number of new research questions and opportunities to advance this novel interdisciplinary field. We would like to thank Prof. Ian F. Akyildiz, Editor-inChief of the Nano Communication Networks journal, and Suganya S. Dorai, Jacqueline Zhu, and Naveen Raja from
154
Editorial / Nano Communication Networks 6 (2015) 153–154
Elsevier for helping us to organize this special issue. We also thank all authors and reviewers who contributed to this special issue.
Ilangko Balasingham Massimiliano Pierobon Ozgur B. Akan
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Nano Communication Networks journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/nanocomnet
Editorial
Bio-Nano Communications Networks and Systems
Advancements made in micro/nano technologies for interfacing, controlling, and manipulating biology show the potential of exploiting the functionalities of biological organisms for designing and engineering communication systems and networks. For example, the human nervous system, which consists of several billion neurons located in the brain, the spinal cord, and within nerves throughout the body, truly forms an electrochemical computation and communication network at the nanoscale. A remarkable aspect of the nervous system is its capability to process a huge amount of information coming from both outside and inside the body, encoded as sequences of electrochemical spikes, or action potentials. Another example is given by signaling pathways, where information is propagated among cells through molecule exchange, at the basis of major cellular functionalities such as cell growth, differentiation, homeostasis, and tissue formation. A vast amount of applications, ranging from medical status monitoring to targeted drug delivery, can potentially stem from novel technologies to exploit the aforementioned biological functionalities, and their development poses numerous theoretical and practical challenges. This special issue is dedicated to the modeling, simulation, communication and information-theoretic study, network analysis, signal processing, and application-specific design of biological systems for communications. After rigorous peer-review process, we have selected 4 papers for the inclusion in this special issue. In the following we provide a brief summary of the papers. The first paper ‘‘Survey and Evaluation of Neural Computation Models for Bio-integrated Systems’’ by F. Christophe, V. Andalibi, T. Laukkarinen, T. Mikkonen, and K. Koskimies surveys the computational models of spiking neurons and their connectivity change known as plasticity. The review includes neural cultures and model efficiency in terms of neural firing patters, computation, parameter adjustability, and real time implementation. The second paper ‘‘A Queueing-Theoretical Delay Analysis for Intra-body Nervous Nanonetwork’’ by N.A. Abbasi and O.B. Akan presents a queuing theory-based delay http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nancom.2015.11.003 1878-7789/ © 2015 Published by Elsevier B.V.
analysis model for neuro-spike communication between two neurons. It takes inspiration from computer network theory and makes use of queueing model blocks based on servers, queues and fork-join networks, impulse reception, and processing in the nervous system. Computer simulation studies are performed to study the response time. The third paper ‘‘Cellular Communication via Directed Protrusion Growth: Critical Length-Scales and Membrane Morphology’’ by H. Zhang, A. Kim, S. Xu, G.D. Jeffries, and A. Jesorka includes an investigation of the growth of cell protrusions from adherent cells and their capability to bridge microgaps, and the definition of a critical length scale for this phenomenon. The study includes experimental observations of molecular transport in cellto-cell connections across microgaps by calcium ion diffusion and intracellular connections in nano and micro size cells. The fourth paper ‘‘Astrocyte–Neuron Communication as Cascade of Equivalent Circuits’’ by F. Mesiti, M. Veletić, P.A. Floor, and I. Balasingham describes the calcium signaling in intercellular ion flow for neuronal communication. The study considers glial cells in astrocytes and explains how these cells communicate and bind on the neuronal receptors. The derived models based on equivalent circuits with feedback loop are proposed for the future design and development of neurological circuits and systems. As summarized by the papers, this special issue highlights recent results and outlines key issues in understanding biological communication functionalities. Advancements of this field in the design, development, and test of bio-nano communications networks and systems are particular important to demonstrate their practical use for future applications, especially in healthcare. We believe this special issue will inspire the readership and indicate a number of new research questions and opportunities to advance this novel interdisciplinary field. We would like to thank Prof. Ian F. Akyildiz, Editor-inChief of the Nano Communication Networks journal, and Suganya S. Dorai, Jacqueline Zhu, and Naveen Raja from
154
Editorial / Nano Communication Networks 6 (2015) 153–154
Elsevier for helping us to organize this special issue. We also thank all authors and reviewers who contributed to this special issue.
Ilangko Balasingham Massimiliano Pierobon Ozgur B. Akan