An atomic-scale nanoelectronic in - vivo sensing system: Fundamental limits

A self-contained or autonomous (10-¿m)³ cubic system capable of migrating within a mammal to sense and communicate the in vivo state of individual cells is defined and analyzed to determine the fundamental limits for several component technologies. These component technologies include an embedded energy source, sensors, a control microprocessor, and a communication system. Interested in determining the limiting technology, we show that the communication system would consume most of the energy per bit or operation. This analysis suggests that while fabrication technologies needed to realize this system do not exist today and the tradeoffs are daunting, systems on this scale may be feasible using end-of-ITRS technologies.