Circuits and Systems Society Chapter Hybrid Event | Piezoelectric Nanofiber-Based Acoustic Biosensors for Mimicking Cochlear Hearing System by Dr Wenhui Song, Professor of Biomaterials and Medical Engineering, University College London

The cochlear implant, currently used as a clinical treatment for hearing loss in children and adults, is a device that bypasses the damaged sensory receptor hair cells by generating electric current in response to an acoustic sound.

To address its fundamental limitations of size mismatch and poor biocompatibility at the electrodes-neurons interfaces, we are developing and understanding the piezoelectric properties of piezoelectric polymeric nanofibers under acoustic stimulation and also exploring bioinspired piezoelectric polymeric nanofibre-based acoustic devices and investigating their performance for potential applications in cochlear implants and hearing systems.

About the Speaker

Dr Wenhui Song is a professor of Biomaterials and Medical Engineering and Head of the UCL Centre for Biomaterials in Surgical Reconstruction and Regeneration, Division of Surgery and Interventional Science, University College London.

She received her PhD from University of Cambridge and BEng and MSc from Beihang University (BUAA) in Materials Science and Engineering.

She currently leads a multidisciplinary team to develop and explore multi-responsive functional polymers, nanomaterials, nanocomposites for applications in biosensors, soft robotics, tissue engineering and disease models for drug discovery.

She has coordinated and participated a number of major multi-disciplinary projects funded by EPSRC, BBSRC, Royal Society, Wellcome Trust, Bone Cancer Research Trust and industry.  She has authored/co-authored 100 highly-cited publications including Science, Nature, Advanced Materials etc and 4 book chapters.