Jian Zhou
Binghamton University, NY·Engineering
Tiny moving parts can detect extremely faint signals. A thin membrane or strip that vibrates can pick up small sounds, forces, or changes in its surroundings.
- Fields
Engineering
Biomedical Engineering
Physics
- Topics
otoacoustic emissions
middle-ear reflectance
ear canal probe
- Grants
- 2 known grants, through Apr 2031
What they work on
- Engineer a mechanical sensing element inspired by the orb-weaving spider's web that detects acoustic particle velocity, the air motion carried by sound, with near-maximum mechanical sensitivity and ultra-low thermomechanical noise.
- Build an ultra-low-noise optomechanical velocity sensor by reading the sensing element's motion with laser interferometry, then integrate it with a miniature pressure microphone into a compact dual-sensing ear canal probe.
- Validate the dual-sensing probe through ear canal measurements of otoacoustic emissions and middle-ear reflectance in individuals with normal and impaired hearing, assessing accuracy, sensitivity and speed.
- Achieve very broad frequency tuning in an ultrathin nano-opto-electro-mechanical resonator by engineering its strain down to a strain-free state, using micro-electromechanical actuation and nano-optomechanical readout.
- Use the broadband tunable platform to determine how thermal fluctuations modulate the performance of resonators made from atomically thin materials, where traditional theories do not apply.
More about the research
These two projects build such sensors and push how sensitive and how adjustable they can be. One applies the idea to hearing tests in people; the other explores the basic physics of ultrathin vibrating devices.
Why it matters
A dual-sensing ear canal probe could make hearing measurements faster and more reliable, helping clinicians identify specific hearing disorders, monitor the effects of auditory treatments, and study normal ear physiology, with direct benefit to people with hearing impairment. Highly tunable nanoscale resonators could support adaptive sensing for the semiconductor industry, communications and national security.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Susan Voss
Smith College, MA·Biomedical Engineering
Expand and update the online wideband acoustic immittance database, now over 9,900 subjects from 41 studies, to define normal measurements and show how specific middle-ear diseases change them.
Karl Grosh
University of Michigan, MI·Biomedical Engineering
Design and fabricate a multi-resonant piezoelectric MEMS accelerometer co-designed with an application-specific integrated circuit, and reach a 5-milligram packaged implantable sound sensor using flip-chip packaging that eliminates printed circuit board mounting.
Ehsan Dehghan-Niri
Arizona State University Campus Immersion, AZ·Engineering·Early-career
Test whether the shape of the aye-aye's pinnae, ear canals and head enhances near-field acoustic sensing by reducing noise and sharpening acoustic beam resolution, using experimental measurements of reflected tapping sound.
The school
Binghamton University: 14 labs on PI Pages, $161M a year on research, 132 research doctorates a year.
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