In-body Bionanosensor Localization for Anomaly Detection via Inertial Positioning and THz Backscattering Communication

Abstract: Nanotechnology is enabling the development of a new generation of devices which are able to sense, process and communicate, while being in the scale of tens to hundreds of cubic nanometers. Such small, imperceptible devices enhance not only current applications but enable entirely new paradigms especially for in-body environments. This paper introduces a localization and tracking concept for bionanosensors floating in the human bloodstream to detect anomalies in the body. Besides the nanoscale sensors, the proposed system also comprises macroscale anchor nodes attached to the skin of the monitored person. To realize autonomous localization and resource-efficient wireless communication between sensors and anchors, we propose to exploit inertial positioning and sub-terahertz backscattering. The proposed system is a first step towards early disease detection as it aims at localizing body regions which show anomalies. Simulations are conducted to enable a systematical evaluation on the feasibility of the approach.