Manuel Monge, PhD

Researcher, Engineer, IC Designer - Minnesota, US
manuel@openic.org | www.manuelmonge.site | Last update: 06/04/2024

Appointments

Education

Research Interests

My research interests include integrated circuits (ICs) and microsystems for medical electronics, analog and mixed-signal ICs, fully wireless systems, implantable and wearable medical devices, sensing and actuation of biological media, localization of microdevices inside the body, in-body monitoring and control of biophysical processes, retinal prostheses, neural prostheses, and brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). I am also interested in the design of ICs and surrounding electronics using Open-Source Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools.

Expertise and Relevant Experience

My expertise includes: (a) development of analog, mixed-signal, radio-frequency (RF), and digital ICs and systems; (b) medical electronics; (c) neural interfaces and BCIs; (d) design of laboratories and infrastructure for ASIC development and prototyping.

Much of my prior work has involved the design, implementation, and validation of miniature, wireless devices for biomedical applications, including neurostimulators for retinal prosthesis, minimally invasive biosensors, and novel methods for microscale device localization in the body based on concepts from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). I have also developed advanced ASICs and microsystems for small, ultra-high-bandwidth, bidirectional BCIs.
As part of this work, I collaborated with applied physicists, biologists, neuroscientists, chemical engineers, mechanical engineers, software engineers, and physicians.

I have designed and built multiple laboratories for the development and prototyping of ASICs and microsystems for biomedical applications in Academia and Industry Startups. I have also built the infrastructure and computational resources needed for the design of Integrated Circuits using state-of-the-art EDA and CAD tools.

Honors and Awards

Selected Contributions to Science

Ultra-low-power, wireless transceivers for implantable and wearable devices.

Recent progress in implantable and wearable technologies has made them an important tool for physicians to monitor biophysical parameters, diagnose numerous health conditions, and treat diseases. Applications of such devices include, within others, drug delivery systems, neural interfaces, vital sign sensors, and intraocular pressure sensors. Implantable and wearable devices demand low power consumption, small form factor (mm-scale), and wireless connectivity. We have developed novel low-power, miniaturized transceivers using on-chip coils, PA-less transmitters, rectifier-based receiver, and magnetic-based receiver. Our prototypes implemented in 180 nm Bulk CMOS and smaller than 5 mm^2 have achieved data transfer uplinks of up to 33 Mb/s at 6.4 pJ/b efficiencies, and downlinks of up to 2 Mb/s at 2 pJ/b efficiencies.

Development of a biomimetic technique for microscale device localization in the body using addressable transmitters operated as magnetic spins (ATOMS)

The function of miniature wireless medical devices such as capsule endoscopes, biosensors, and drug-delivery systems critically depends on their location inside the body. However, existing methods are limited by the physical properties of tissue or performance of imaging modality. I led the development of a new class of microchips for localization of micro-scale devices by embodying the principles of nuclear magnetic resonance in a silicon IC. We mimicked the behavior of nuclear spins and engineered miniaturized RF transmitters that encode their location in space by shifting their output frequency in proportion to the local magnetic field. The application of external field gradients then allows each device to be located precisely from its signal’s frequency. This technology is robust to tissue properties, scalable to multiple devices, and suitable for the development of micro-scale devices to monitor and treat disease.

Development of wireless, high-density, self-calibrating, multi-channel system-on-chip (SoC) for intraocular epiretinal prosthesis

Retinal prostheses aim to restore vision in patients suffering from severe retinal degeneration by bypassing the damaged photoreceptors and directly stimulating the remaining healthy neurons. We developed a bioelectronics system-on-chip for fully intraocular implants using highly scaled complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technologies to reduce area and power, and to support hundreds of stimulation channels. I led the development of this SoC which includes dual-band telemetry for power and data, on-chip power management and clock recovery, data-transfer speeds up to 20 Mbps, 512 independent channels with arbitrary current waveform generation, and self-calibration of stimulation currents using a digital calibration technique.

Publications

Patents

Grants

Previous Support

Work and Research Experience

OpenIC

Founder and CEO (Feb 2024 - Present)

• New organization focusing on Research & Develoment (R&D) of Integrated Circuits (ICs) and surrounding electronics using Open-Source Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools. It aims to work closely with Universities, Research Institutions, and Industry, especially with small organizations, startups, and academic labs, to provide them with custom ICs at a low cost.

Precision Neuroscience Corporation

Lead Senior Circuit Design Engineer (Sep 2021 - Dec 2023)

• Startup developing minimally invasive, modular, brain-computer interfaces (BCI).
• Heading the development of bidirectional integrated neural interfaces in high-voltage CMOS processes for large number of recording/stimulation sites.

University of Southern California

Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (Aug 2018-Aug 2022)

• MRI-Controllable Microscale Electronics for Minimally Invasive Wireless Bio-Sensors and Bio-Actuators
• Lightweight Wireless Fully Implantable Neural Recording Microsystem with Orientation-Insensitive Radio-Frequency Reader for Freely Moving Small Animals Studies
• MRI-Inspired Localization of Microscale Devices inside the Body
• Field-Programmable Neural Probe for Adaptive Neural Recording and Stimulation
• Reconfigurable Sensing and Actuation IC for Multi-Modal Monitoring and Modulation of Biological Media
• General-Purpose, Modular Neural Interface Back-End

Neuralink Corporation

Founding Team Member; Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) Engineer (May 2017 - Jun 2018

• Startup developing ultra-high bandwidth brain-machine interfaces (BMIs)

California Institute of Technology

Graduate Research Assistant, Mixed-Mode Integrated Circuits and Systems (MICS) Group (Sep 2009 - Aug 2017)

Advisor: Prof. Azita Emami, Andrew and Peggy Cherng Professor of Electrical Engineering and
Medical Engineering, Heritage Medical Research Institute Investigator, Executive Officer for EE

• ATOMS: Addressable Transmitters Operated as Magnetic Spins

  • In collaboration with Mikhail Shapiro, Professor of Chemical Engineering at Caltech.
  • Localization of microscale devices in vivo using a novel microscale integrated circuit capable of mimicking the physical principles of nuclear magnetic resonance.
  • We achieved sub-millimeter precision with a device smaller than 1 mm^3.

• Minimally-Invasive Biological Interfaces

  • In collaboration with Prof. Mikhail Shapiro.
  • Study of novel circuit and systems techniques for sensing and actuation of biological function using ATOMS.

• Wireless Implantable BioSensors

  • In collaboration with Axel Scherer, Bernard Neches Professor of Electrical Engineering, Physics, and Applied Physics at Caltech.
  • Development of novel circuit techniques for potentiometric and amperometric measurements of biomarkers using full-scan cyclic voltammetry and ion-selective electrodes in 65nm CMOS.

• High-Density Fully Intraocular Self-Calibrating Retinal Prosthesis

  • In collaboration with Dr. Mark Humayun, University Professor of Ophthalmology, Biomedical Engineering, Cell and Neurobiology at USC and Dr. James Weiland, Professor of Ophthalmology and Biomedical Engineering at USC.
  • Designed and implemented a fully intraocular 1024-channel epiretinal prosthesis System-on-Chip (SoC) with precise current delivery in 65nm CMOS

• Brain Protect

  • In collaboration with Dr. Mark Humayun
  • Simulation and measurement of transcranial near infreared light penetration. For measurements, cadaveric human head tissues excised from occipital, parietal, frontal, and temporal regions have been used.

• Energy Harvesting for Implantable Medical Devices

  • Design and optimization of a high frequency RF link using near field inductively coupled coils for powering of implantable microdevices.
  • Design of on-chip micro-coils for RF energy harvesting in 180nm and 65nm CMOS for micro-scale biomedical devices.

• Wireless Chip-to-Chip Communication for Biomedical Applications

  • Study of techniques, approaches and limitations of inductively coupled coils for low power data communication in multi-chip biomedical systems.

• Compressed-Sensing Signal Acquisition System

  • Automated test system has been developed for measurements of the random modulator pre-integrator (RMPI) chip based compressed-sensing signal acquisition system.

• Data Generation for High-Speed Links

  • Design of a high-speed cyclic register for an optical transmitter in 32nm SOI technology.
  • Design of a phase rotator for an optical receiver in 65nm CMOS, in collaboration with Rockley Photonics.

Samsung Display America Laboratory (SDAL)

Summer Intern, High-Speed Interfaces group (Jun 2013 - Sep 2013)

Advisor: Amir Amirkhany, Ph.D., Principal Engineer, Manager of High-Speed Interfaces group

• On-Chip Channel Monitoring Circuits for High-Speed Data Links
  • Design of a system for on-chip characterization of channel response, eye-diagram estimation and delay measurements. Design of a Phase Interpolator with LSB=2.6ps using state-of-the-art display technology (180nm CMOS process).

Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP)

Research Assistant, Research Group in Microelectronics (Mar 2007 - Aug 2009)

Advisor: Carlos Silva-Cardenas, Professor of Electrical Engineering at PUCP

• Research on FPGA Digital Systems Design with VHDL.
• Senior Thesis: Design of a Multilayer Perceptron Neural Network on FPGA for character recognition.

Selected Talks and Presentations

• Low-Power Transceivers for Implantable and Wearable Medical Devices
  • UPCH, Apr. 04, 2023
  • PUCP - 30 years of GuE Seminar, Jun. 30, 2022
  • UCLA - QuBiT Group Talk, Sep. 16, 2022
• Data Transfer for Implants and Wearables
  • USC GIBT Symposium on Abiotic-Biotic Interfaces for Ophthalmology, Jan. 21-22, 2021
• Integrated Circuits for Electronic Medicine
  • REPU - nanoREPU Seminar, Jul. 3, 2021
  • MIT Seminar – MAS.S65 Next Generation Devices for Nanoelectronics and Biotechnology, Apr. 7, 2021
  • University of Oregon – Seminar, Apr. 6, 2020
  • MaxLinear, Inc., Oct. 31, 2019
  • UC Riverside – Bioengineering Colloquium Speaker, May 29, 2019
  • USC IEEE Student Branch, Mar. 27, 2019
  • USC Seminar – BME 533: Seminar in Bioengineering, Nov. 12, 2018
• High-Precision Electronic Medicine: Localization, Stimulation, and Beyond
  • University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), Philadelphia, Apr. 5, 2018
  • University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), Chicago, Apr. 3, 2018
  • Princeton University, Princeton, Mar. 19, 2018
  • Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), Cleveland, Feb. 20, 2018
  • University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, Feb. 16, 2018
• High-Performance Microelectronics for Implantable Medical Devices
  • Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP), Peru, May 29, 2017
  • Neuralink Corp., San Francisco, Feb. 2017
• Low-power Micro-scale Wireless Implantable Biosensors, Caltech EE Symposium, Pasadena, Jan. 2016
• Plenty of Bio-Room at the Bottom: Miniaturization of Medical Electronics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Apr. 03, 2015
• Integrated Circuits for Implantable Medical Devices, National University of Engineering (UNI), Peru, Dec. 17, 2014
• High-Density Fully Intraocular Epiretinal Prostheses, Medical Engineering Industry Day Poster Session, California Institute of Technology, Oct. 29-30, 2014

Supervised Students and Postdoctoral Scholars

University of Southern California

Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Postdoctoral Scholars

Graduate Students

Directed Research for M.S. Students

Undergraduate Students

Teaching and Mentoring Experience

University of Southern California

Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Enginerring

• EE 599: Integrated Circuits in Implantable Medical Devices
  • Fall 2019 (New Course)
• EE 348L: Electronic Circuits
  • Spring 2020, Fall 2020
  • Redesigned course for Fall 2020
  • New assignments, laboratory experiments, and semester-long project
  • Adopted remote teaching tools

California Institute of Technology

Mentor, Department of Electrical Engineering

• EE 80 Senior Thesis
  • Mentee: Albert Gural (Sep-Jun 2016)
    Thesis: A High-Sensitivity CMOS Potentiostat for in vivo Distributed Wireless Sensing
  • Mentee: Angie Wang (Sep-Jun 2012)
    Thesis: Test System and External Circuitry of a Retinal Prosthesis
• Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF)
  • Mentee: Albert Gural, Kiyo and Eiko Tomiyasu SURF Scholar (Jun-Sep 2015)
    Project: A High-Sensitivity CMOS Potentiostat for in vivo Distributed Wireless Sensing
  • Mentee: Julie Jester, Kirk and Marjory Dawson Family SURF Fellow (Jun-Sep 2012)
    Project: Retinal Prosthesis System for Vision Restoration
  • Mentee: Angie Wang, Rose Hills Foundation SURF Fellow (Jun-Sep 2011)
    Project: Test System for a Retinal Prosthesis IC. First Place, Gee Family Poster Competition

Teaching Assistant, Department of Electrical Engineering (Jan 2012-Dec 2015)

• EE 124 Mixed-mode Integrated Circuits
  • Spring 2012, Spring 2013, Fall 2015
• EE 045 Electronics Laboratory
  • Winter 2012, Winter 2013, Winter 2014

Pontifical Catholic University of Peru

Instructor, Department of Electrical Engineering

• IEE 146: Digital Circuits Laboratory
  • Spring/Fall 2008, Spring 2009

Mentor, Department of Electrical Engineering

• IEE 308: Senior Thesis 1 and IEE 309: Senior Thesis 2 (03.2013 – 06.2017)
  • Mentees: Sammy Cerida, Marco Chang Kee, Jesus Martinez, Diego Rodriguez, Juan Rojas, Martin Naveda

National University of Trujillo, Peru

Instructor, Department of Mechanical Engineering

• Digital Electronic Laboratory 1 (08.2009)

Outreach

• USC Viterbi Summer High School Intensive New Generation Engineers (SHINE) program, 2019, 2021
• USC Viterbi Summer Institute, 2021
• McBride High School Virtual Career Day
  • Talk: Electrical Engineers and Integrated Circuit Designers
  • Date: Feb. 26, 2021
• Co-Organizer, CAS Mini-Symposium, IEEE CASS and Ming Hsieh Institute, Jan. 2020

Professional Services and Activities

• Associate Editor, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems (TBioCAS), 2021-2022
• NSF Reviewer 2021
• NIH Early Career Reviewer (ECR), Instrumentation and Systems Development (ISD) Study Section
• Reviewer for Nature Electronics, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits (JSSC), IEEE Solid-State Circuits Letters (SSC-L), IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems (TBioCAS), Nature Electronics, IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS), IEEE Biomedical Circuits and Systems Conference (BIOCAS), Latin-American Workshop Iberchip.
• Technical Paper Review Committee (TPRC) member of the IEEE International Microwave Symposium (IMS) 2021
• Session Co-Chair of the IEEE IMS, Jun. 20-25, 2021
  • Session: Tu3D: Chipless RFID and Resonator-Based Sensors (Jun. 22, 2021)
• Session Chair of the 27th Iberchip Workshop, Feb. 21-24, 2021
  • Session 2 (Feb. 24, 2021)
• Member of IEEE, IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS), IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society (SSCS), IEEE Circuits and Systems Society (CASS)
• Ming Hsieh Institute PhD Scholars, Selection Committee Member, USC, 2019-2020
• Co-Host of the Ming Hsieh Institute Seminar Series on Integrated Systems (2019-2021)
• Student Leader, International Student Programs (ISP), Caltech, 2011-2017
• Organizer of the 2015-2016 Caltech Mixed-Signal, RF & Microwave Seminar
• SURF seminar, judge for oral presentation competition, Caltech, 2011, 2012, 2015