Engineering

Photo of Dr Rupam Das

Dr Rupam Das

Lecturer in Electronic Engineering

 R.K.Das@exeter.ac.uk

 (Streatham) 3623

 01392 723623

Overview

Overview

Dr Rupam Das is a Lecturer at the Electronic Engineering, University of Exeter, Streatham, UK. He is part of the Nano Engineering Science and Technology (NEST) and the Centre for Metamaterial Research and Innovation (CMRI). Prior joining this position, he was a Marie Curie Fellow (EU H2020 MSCA-IF: Wireless, Scalable and Implantable Optogenetics for Neurological Disorders Cure (WiseCure) at the Microelectronics Lab (meLAB), University of Glasgow. This Fellowship focused on developing the wireless optogenetic systems based on metamaterials to treat brain diseases. He also worked as a Research Associate in multi-million EU H2020 FET-Proactive "HERMES" project in Glasgow, where he was developing the flexible neural implant to treat epilepsy. Before moving to the UK, he was a BK'21 Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Ulsan and Hanyang University at the Applied Bioelectronics Lab (ABLab). Rupam is an IEEE senior member and served as a guest editor in Royal Society of Philosophical Transaction A. He was also the local organizer of ICECS 2020 and session chair committee member for ICECS 2022. 

Qualifications

  • PhD in Electrical & Electronics Engineering (2013-2017), University of Ulsan, South Korea, supervised by Prof. Hyoungsuk Yoo. Thesis: A Study on MRI Heating, Biotelemetry, and Unidirectional Wireless Power Transfer for Biomedical Implants
  • MSc in Medical & Biological Engineering (2011-2013), University of Ulsan, South Korea, supervised by Prof. Hyoungsuk Yoo. Thesis: MRI interactions with biomedical implants
  • BSc in Electrical & Electronics Engineering (2006-2010), Chittagong University of Engineering & Technology, Bangladesh.          Project: Biometric Fingerprint recognition using MATLAB

Grant and Research Funding

  • 2024: Dstl PhD MegaComp studentship: Magnetoelectric material based miniaturized and multifunctional antennas. Lot 5 RQ25379. (£120k)
  • 2023: RG\R2\232031: GRAIN: GRAphene based Neural Implant fabrication. Royal Society Research Grant, PI (£70k) 
  • 2023: Health Technologies @ Exeter seedcorn fund, PI (£2k)
  • 2023-2027 HORIZON-EIC-PATHFINDEROPEN (GA n.101099355), BRAINSTORM: Wireless deep BRAIN STimulation thrOugh engineeRed Multifunctional nanomaterials, affliliate investigator (€3M), PI: Prof Hadi Heidari, Uni of Glasgow
  • 2023-2026 CHIST-ERA EPSRC (EP/X034690/1), SNOW: Wearable Nano-Opto-electro-mechanic Systems, Co-I (£250k), PI: Prof Hadi Heidari, Uni of Glasgow
  • 2022 EPSRC IAA (EP/R511705/1), MRI Compatible Brain Implant, PI (£20.5K) with QVBio
  • 2022-2026 HORIZON-EIC-PATHFINDERCHALLENGES (GA n.101070908), CROSSBRAIN: Distributed and federated cross-modality actuation through advanced nanomaterials and neuromorphic learning, affliliate investigator (€4M), PI: Prof Hadi Heidari (Uni of Glasgow)
  • 2020-2022 MSCA Individual Fellowship (Fellow/PI) (GA n.893822) €224k EU Fellowship to design wireless brain implants for neurological diseases
  • 2017-2019 Brain Korea (BK) 21 Plus Fellowship (Fellow/PI) $64k Fellowship to research on high-dielectric metamaterials and electromagnetic band gap structure
  • 2013-2016 Brain Korea (BK) 21 Doctoral Fellowship (Fellow) $43k to design of MRI compatible active implantable medical devices with wireless power transmission
  • 2011-2013 University of Ulsan, South Korea ~$12k postgraduate research scholarship

PhD/Post-doctoral Positions

I am currently looking for highly motivated and hard working PhD students as well as Postdoctoral researchers to be part of the cutting-edge research to develop the next generation of wireless bioelectronic devices. Please get in touch with your CV and research interest to discuss more about funding and fellowship. 

Current PhD position: https://www.exeter.ac.uk/study/funding/award/?id=5052

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Publications

Copyright Notice: Any articles made available for download are for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the copyright holder.

| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2013 |

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

  • Das R, Cho Y, Yoo H. (2016) High Efficiency Unidirectional Wireless Power Transfer by a Triple Band Deep-Tissue Implantable Antenna, 2016 IEEE MTT-S INTERNATIONAL MICROWAVE SYMPOSIUM (IMS). [PDF]

2015

2013

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Further information

Research areas

Are you interested in developing devices that can save human lives?

My research is multidisciplinary, at the interface of electronics, physics and biology. I am primarily focused on applying electromagnetic and electronic tools in the field of implantable, wearable devices and medical imaging. I am currently working on developing metamaterial based wireless neuromodulation systems and implantable neural probe for the treatment of brain diseases. Key research areas:

Capsule-type Bioelectronic Devices: With the progress in biomedical engineering, capsule-type implantable and ingestible medical devices (e.g. capsule endoscope) are turning out to be more prevalent in well-being and medicinal applications because of their capacity to locally empower inner organs and/or screen and impart internal key signs to remote receivers. With continuous demand from the clinical need for implantable devices comes the constant flow of specialized difficulties. Likewise, with commercial portable items, implantable devices have the same need to reduce size, weight, and power. As an example, the Nanostim leadless pacemaker is one-tenth the size of a conventional pacemaker and is considered one of the most significant advances in the history of pacemaker technology. Meanwhile, Medtronic also introduced the Micra transcatheter pacing system, which is 30% smaller than the Nanostim leadless pacemaker. However, there are still some challenges that need to be addressed. The aim of this research  area will be to explore those challenges and develop newly wirelessly powered biomedical devices.

Different methods of wireless powering of neural implantWireless, Flexible and Biontegrated Neuromodulation: Implantable neural interfacing devices have added significantly to neural engineering by introducing the low-frequency oscillations of small populations of neurons known as local field potential as well as high-frequency action potentials of individual neurons. Regardless of the astounding progression as of late, conventional neural modulating system is still incapable to achieve the desired chronic in vivo implantation. The real constraint emerges from mechanical and physical differences between implants and brain tissue that initiates an inflammatory reaction and glial scar formation that reduces the recording and stimulation quality. Furthermore, traditional strategiesconsisting of rigid and tethered neural devices cause substantial tissue damage and impede the natural behavior of an animal, thus hindering chronic in vivo measurements. Therefore, enabling fully implantable neural devices requires biocompatibility, wireless power/data capability, biointegration using thin and flexible electronics, and chronic recording properties. This reseach area will explore the biocompatibility and design approaches for developing biointegrated and wirelessly powered implantable neural devices in animals aimed at long-term neural interfacing.

MRI and Safety: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become a commonly accepted medical procedure with wide usage. Unlike conventional radiography and computed tomography, MRI has many advantages including its nonionizing nature and the ability to discriminate different soft tissues without contrast media. However, the substantial benefits of MRI are often not available to patients with implanted medical devices, such as a pacemaker, an implantable cardioverter device, or a deep brain stimulator. The goal of this research would be to study the interaction of different biomedical devices with MRI and improving the homogeneity of the magnetic field in high-field MRI using artificial materials such as metamaterials.

Metamaterials for Biomedical applications: Radiofrequency techniques are the dominant wireless technology used for bioelectronic applications due to their relative safety and maturity. These systems use components such as antennas, waveguides and phased arrays to control the propagation of electromagnetic fields, which are usually the largest and most energy-demanding part of a bioelectronic device and thus determine the safety and efficacy of the system. However, the human body is a lossy, heterogeneous and dispersive medium, presenting major challenges for wireless technologies. Biological tissues, in particular, absorb electromagnetic radiation, which must be within safety limits to prevent adverse thermal or stimulatory effects. Because tissue absorption increases with higher electromagnetic field frequencies, an operating frequency of less than 5 GHz is required to access regions deep in the body. However, this requirement also limits the miniaturization of the components and the ability to focus the electromagnetic field because the wavelength in biological tissues exceeds a centimetre at such frequencies. Furthermore, the human body is in constant motion and its size and composition greatly vary between individuals. These features present formidable challenges for the design of miniaturized, robust and high-performance wireless bioelectronic components for sensing and therapy. This research area explores and studies the metamaterials/metasurface, which can be engineered to control electromagnetic fields around the human body and could be used to overcome the current limitations of bioelectronic interfaces.

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