Siming Zuo, Ph.D.

Stay Foolish, Stay Hungry, Stay Young.

by Tom Hiddleston

Biography

I am a Research Fellow working on fundamental research to develop microelectronics and sensor technologies for human-machine interfaces in healthcare, education, consumer electronics, metaverse, gaming markets and many others. Specialties in spintronics, flexible magnetic field sensors, mixed-signal integrated circuits, wearable human nervous systems, clinical Magnetocardiography and Magnetomyography.

I have authored and co-authored over 40 peer-reviewed publications in top-tier journals or conference proceedings, and filed 2 patents. I was granted EPSRC IAA Award, Wellcome Trust Translational Partnership, International SFB 1261 Fellowship (Germany), 10th UK Doctoral Researcher Awards, Fully PhD Studentship (3.5-Year), the Best Paper Award from IEEE PrimeAsia’18 and Student Travel Grants in ISCAS’19, UKCAS’19 and ISCAS’20.

I am also a Co-Founder and Lead Engineer at Neuranics, a spinout from the University of Glasgow, commercializing our research works with customers, innovation centers, investors and large multinational firms, and trying to raise significant funding for next-generation magnetic sensing technologies to revolutionize wearable devices. High level of engagement with industrial partners and research groups in UK, Europe, USA, Australia as well as China.

Our vision is to make body-related information accessible to enterprises, researchers, and end-users by combining hardware design, data collection, algorithms, and personalization, thus creating a more empathic digital world. We have assembled a world-class team of experienced engineers, physicists, data scientists, and neuroscientists dedicated to creating a full-stack deep-tech company and advancing the state-of-the-art in neurotechnology.

Education

2017-21 PhD in Electronics and Nanoscale Engineering, University of Glasgow, UK

2013-17 B.Eng. in Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Glasgow, UK

2013-17 B.Eng. in Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, China

Experience

Dec. 2022 – Sep. 2023

Research Fellow, University of Glasgow, UK

MCG-on-Chip: Magnetic-based Wearable Device for Continuous Heart Monitoring, EPSRC IAA Award (EP/X5257161/1)
The broader impact and commercial potential are to prototype a magnetic-based wearable device for continuously monitoring the small magnetic signals generated by the heart.
Without any contact to the skin, contrary to standard ECG devices that require uncomfortable electrodes, adhesives and chest straps to operate, and it is not accurate in skinny or obese patients.
This technology can be manufactured at low cost and easily miniaturized and provide a contactless, unobtrusive and comfortable way to evaluate the human heart condition.

Experience

June 2021 – Nov. 2022

Research Associate, University of Glasgow, UK

HERMES - Hybrid Enhanced Regenerative Medicine Systems (funded by funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020).
Developing miniaturized biocompatible devices and microelectronics on neural interfaces from fundamental physics to wide applications of wearable and implantable electronics.
Working on the next generation highly sensitive devices and flexible microelectronics, including theoretical analysis, computational modelling and simulation, design, and fabrication.
It pursues the long-term vision of healing disabling brain disorders by means of brain tissue transplants, a reality that is only possible to date for other organs of the human body.

Feb. 2021 – May 2021

Research Technician, University of Glasgow, UK

Handheld and Rapid Magnetic-based Platform for Malaria Diagnostic (Wellcome Trust Translational Partnership)
Designed and developed a miniaturized lab-on-chip spintronic-based platform for a rapid malaria detection and executed experiments with different concentrations of samples.
Experience with magnetic sensor packaging, analog front-end and PCB design, microcontroller coding, graphical user interface design, platform assembling, measurement and validation.
Removing the magnetic background noise (e.g. geomagnetic fields, white noise and thermal noise) and comparing malaria-infected samples to uninfected blood samples and clean water.

Oct. 2017 – Mar. 2021

Doctoral Researcher, University of Glasgow, UK

Experience with numerical simulations and analysis of active bio-potential & magnetic signals from the muscle and motor units using software such as COMSOL & MATLAB.
Experience with finite-element method modelling and theoretical studies of the behaviour of thin-film magnetic sensors based on the magneto-resistive and magneto-electric effects.
Experience with CMOS VLSI circuit & system design, layout and simulation with CADENCE, Multisim and LTSpice, and PCB designs with Altium Designer for Lab-on-Chip applications.
Experience with magnetic sensor and system characterisations, and in-vitro measurements of Electromyography and Magnetomyography signals with advanced data analysis techniques.

Oct. 2018 – Mar. 2019

Scientific Staff, University of Kiel, Germany

Modeling of Magnetoelectric Sensors: Theoretical investigation of the behavior of magnetoelectric (ME) sensors based on piezoelectric and magnetostrictive composite materials.
Investigated resonant ME sensors, ME sensors employing the ΔE-effect, ME sensors with segmented electrodes, mechanical & magnetic field concentrator geometries, coupled resonators & sensor arrays.
Calculated the signal strength and the SNR for each type of sensor system simulation methods, and carried out systematic studies of geometry-dependent and material-dependent effects.
ME sensor development and fabrication (materials science), sensor characterization and signal processing (electrical engineering), sensor modelling and sensor analysis as well as (medical) applications.

Review Services (20+ papers)

Journal Articles:

IEEE Sensors Journal & MDPI Sensors
Scientific Reports & Frontier in Neuroscience
IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems
IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I - Regular Papers
IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II - Express Briefs
IEEE Journal of Electromag. RF & Microwaves in Medicine & Biology

Review Services

Conference Proceedings:

IEEE Sensors Conference
IEEE Biomedical Circuits and Systems Conference
IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems
IEEE International Symposium on Integrated Circuits and Systems
IEEE International Conference on. Electronics Circuits and Systems
Inter. Conference of IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society

Research Interests

My research interests are broadly ranging from theoretical, simulation, design, fabrication and experimental work in fundamental physics to applications of wearable and implantable electronics. My work focuses on CMOS-spintronic sensing interfaces circuits, allowing them to be manufactured as integrated Analog Front-End (AFE) including various circuits building blocks e.g. analogue-to-digital converters (ADC) and DC-DC converters for low-power and high-speed electronics systems. I am designing CMOS analog and mixed signal circuits for various applications e.g. biomedical and cryogenic electronics (Cryo-CMOS).

Theoretical, Computational and Experimental Physics
Wearable Bioelectronic and Implantable Device Design
CMOS-Spintronics and Miniaturised Magnetic Sensors
Nanotechnology with Biomedical Circuits and Systems

Featured Research Portfolio

My long-term vision is to transform the diagnosis of peripheral muscle and nerve diseases and to radically enhance the efficacy of motor rehabilitation after stroke, spinal cord injury or limb loss. A key challenge is the development of effective methods for the measurement of muscle activity that offer high spatial and temporal resolutions. Conventionally, muscle activity can be recorded and analysed electrically by electromyography (EMG) technique from the surface of the skin using metal electrodes, which is a well-established method and widely used today in basic, sports and clinical studies. However, another physical quantity, magnetic fields associated with the EMG signal, that is the magnetomyography (MMG) signal, has received less attention since its discovery in 1972. The correspondence between the MMG and EMG methods is governed by the Maxwell-Ampère law. Inspired by the vector nature of magnetic fields that offers significantly higher spatial resolution than the EMG signals, my research is guided by a conviction that assessment of muscle activity is best achieved through non-invasive monitoring, and better positioning and fast screening of sensors without electrical contacts. I, therefore, aim to develop a new scientific and engineering paradigm to revitalize the magnetic recording of muscle activity using miniaturized, highly sensitive, inexpensive and low-power MMG sensors. By focusing on the key questions and technical challenges remained for over four decades, this programme will enable significant advances towards my career goals to identify, characterize and quantify the MMG signals.

Number of published papers that used MMG, MCG, EMG and MEG methods since 1970. Data was extracted from Web of Science by searching keywords including Magnetomyography, Magnetomyogram, Magnetocardiography, Electromyography and Magnetoencephalography.

a Typical representative biomagnetic signals generated from human active organs and tissues with additionally interferences from the environment; b Potential application of MMG for diagnosis and rehabilitation of movement disorder, health monitoring and robotics control.

Electrical physiology of the active tissue as an excitable cable. a The axial and transmembrane currents flowing at an active area; b The total magnetic field of the excitable cable related to the axial current in theory where action potential flowing in a forward direction; c Structure of the skeletal muscle with its electrophysiology; d Numerical simulation results in COMSOL. Red arrows and colour legend indicate the direction and magnitude of the magnetic signal.

A graphical overview of weak biomagnetic detection in skeletal muscle. The figure shows the miniaturization pathway from bulky superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) to spintronic nanoscale devices. a SQUIDs; b Atom magnetometer; c Optical pumped magnetometer; d Thin-film solid-sate magnetic sensors; Generations of miniaturization in detail, and e spintronics devices, from flexible magnetic tunnel junction to standard CMOS technology.

Comparison of amplitude densities of magnetic signals generated by various sources of the human body, with LODs of different magnetic sensor types.

a Structure and principle of the TMR sensor based on thin-film technology; b TMR sensor behavior and typical magnetization orientations correspondence.

a top-view MTJ arrays image of fabricated TMR sensors; b Multilayer stack cross-section TEM image.

Wheatstone bridge configuration of TMR array

Magnetoelectric sensor details: a image of the packaged and assembled ME chip on a test board (Fraunhofer Institute for Silicon Technology, Germany); b photograph of an uncapped ME sensor device with (1) ME cantilever, (2) etch groove, (3) bond frame, and (4) wire connecting to bond pads.

Magnetic measurement system with an active geomagnetic field cancellation box and double stainless steel tubes.

Analysis of measured MMG signals in the time-frequency domains.

Cover Gallery

IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices 2018

Advanced Materials Technologies 2020

Institution of Engineering & Technology 2021

Paper Gallery

Publications

Over 30+ publications in top-tier journals and conference proceedings, including 3 Journal articles (2 featured as cover front and frontispiece image) + 6 Conference Papers + 1 Book Chapter, as the first author. For details about the citations, please check the Google Scholar page.

Journal Articles (In Preparation/Under Review):

S. Zuo, K. Nazarpour, T. Böhnert, E. Paz, P. Freitas, R. Ferreira and H. Heidari, “Integrated Pico-Tesla MagnetoMyoGraphy System Based on Tunnel Magneto-Resistive Effect,” IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits Systems, 2021. (Invited Paper from IEEE ICECS 2020)
S. Zuo, K. Nazarpour, D. Farina, P. Broser and H. Heidari, “Modelling and Analysis of the Active Magneto-MyoGraphy Signals,” Nature Protocols, 2021. (Available at arXiv: 2104.02036).
Y. Li, S. Zuo, J. Thompson, N. Mirzai, L. R-Cartwright and H. Heidari, “Handheld Magnetic-assisted Platform for Contactless Malaria Parasite Detection,” IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits Systems, 2021. (Major Revision – ISICAS 2021)
A. Rigi, A. W. Tadbeir, D. Mukherjee1, O. Aro, M. V. Enrich, A. Chamakhi, N. Irshad, A. H. Chibli, S. Zuo, J. Cooper, H. Heidari and J. Reboud, “A Rapid Point-of-Care Device for Detecting Vancomycin Levels in Blood Plasma using a Magnetoresistive Immunosensor,” Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 2021. (Under Review)

Journal Articles (Published):

S. Zuo, J. Schmalz, M-Ö. Özden, G. Martina, J. Su, F. Niekiel, F. Lofink, K. Nazarpour and H. Heidari, “Ultrasensitive Magnetoelectric Sensing System for pico-Tesla MagnetoMyoGraphy,” IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits Systems. 2020. DOI: 10.1109/TBCAS.2020.2998290.
S. Zuo, H. Heidari, D. Farina and K. Nazarpour, “Miniaturized Magnetic Sensors for Implantable Magnetomyography,” Advanced Materials Technologies. 2020. DOI: 10.1002/admt.202000185.
S. Zuo, K. Nazarpour and H. Heidari, “Device Modelling of MgO-Barrier Tunnelling Magneto-resistors for Hybrid Spintronic-CMOS,” IEEE Electron Device Letters, vol. 39, no. 11, pp. 1784-1787, November 2018. DOI: 10.1109/LED.2018.2870731.
H. Wang, S. Zuo, M. C-Sánchez, N. G-Arekhloo, K. Nazarpour and H. Heidari, “Wearable Super-Resolution Muscle-Machine Interfacing,” Frontiers in Neuroscience, October 2022. DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.1020546.
N. G-Arekhloo, H. Parvizi, S. Zuo, H. Wang, K. Nazarpour, J. Marquetand, H. Heidari, “Alignment of magnetic sensing and clinical magnetomyography,” Frontiers in Neuroscience, May 2023. DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1154572.
H. Fan, J. Zhang, S. Zuo, and Q. Feng, and H. Heidari, “A Hall Sensor with Integrated Readout Circuits and Microcontroller Processing for Magnetic Detection,” RSI Review of Scientific Instruments, 2021. DOI: 10.1063/5.0038295.
H. Fan, J. Wang, Q. Feng, Q. Hu, S. Zuo, V. Nabaei and H. Heidari, “Detection Techniques of Biological and Chemical Hall Sensors,” RSC Advances, 2021. DOI: 10.1039/D0RA10027G.
H. Fan, H. Yue, J. Mao, T. Peng, S. Zuo, Q. Feng, Q. Wei and H. Heidari, “Modelling and fabrication of wide temperature range Al0.24Ga0.76As/GaAs Hall magnetic sensors,” Journal of Semiconductors, 2021. DOI: 10.1088/1674-4926/43/3/034101.

Patents:

S. Zuo, K. Nazarpour and H. Heidari, “SENSOR READOUT CIRCUIT FOR A BIOMAGNETISM MEASUREMENT SYSTEM,” GB 2213839.0, Issued Sep 22, 2022.
S. Zuo and H. Heidari, “BIOMAGNETISM MEASUREMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SENSING BIOMAGNETIC SIGNALS,” US 17/379702, Filed Jul 19, 2021.

Book Chapter:

S. Zuo, K. Nazarpour, M. Gerken and H. Heidari, “MagnetoMyoGraphy,” Control of Prosthetic Hands: Emerging Avenues and Challenges,” IET 2021. DOI: 10.1049/PBHE022E_ch4.

Conference Proceedings:

S. Zuo, K. Nazarpour and H. Heidari, “High-Precision Biomagnetic Measurement System Based on Tunnel Magneto-Resistive Effect,” 27th IEEE International Conference on Electronics, Circuits and Systems, Glasgow, UK, 2020. DOI: 10.1109/ICECS49266.2020.9294789.
S. Zuo, K. Nazarpour, T. Böhnert, E. Paz, P. Freitas, R. Ferreira and H. Heidari, “Integrated Pico-Tesla Resolution Magnetoresistive Sensors for Miniaturised Magnetomyography,” International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), Montréal, Canada, 2020, pp. 3415-3419. DOI: 10.1109/EMBC44109.2020.9176266.
S. Zuo, T. Sardar, C. Ding, Z. Zhang, Y. Wang, V. Nabaei and H. Heidari, “Development of a Handheld and Rapid Magnetic-based Platform for Malaria Diagnostic,” IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS), Seville, ‎Spain, 2020. (CASS Competition)
S. Zuo, H. Fan, K. Nazarpour and H. Heidari, “A CMOS Analog Front-End for Tunnelling Magnetoresistive Spintronic Sensing Systems,” IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS), Sapporo, Japan, 2019, pp. 1-5. DOI: 10.1109/ISCAS.2019.8702219.
S. Zuo, J. Chen, H. Fan, R. Ghannam and H. Heidari, “On-Chip Counting and Localization of Magnetite Pollution Nanoparticles,” 15th Conference on PhD Research in Microelectronics and Electronics (PRIME), Lausanne, Switzerland, 2019. DOI: 10.1109/PRIME.2019.8787848.
S. Zuo, R. Ghannam and H. Heidari, “Spintronic Nanodevices for Neuromorphic Sensing Chips,” 11th Inter. Conference on Developments in e-Systems Eng., Cambridge, UK, 2018.
N. G-Arekhloo, H. Parvizi, S. Zuo, H. Wang, K. Nazarpour and H. Heidari, “Investigating the Advantages of Magnetomyography in Assistive Healthcare Technology,” IEEE International Conference on Electronics, Circuits & Systems, 2023.
N. G-Arekhloo, S. Zuo, H. Wang, M. Imran, T. Klotz, K. Nazarpour and H. Heidari, “Investigating the volume conduction effect in MMG and EMG during action potential recording,” IEEE International Conference on Electronics, Circuits & Systems, 2022. DOI: 10.1109/ICECS202256217.2022.9971020.
Y. Cheng, S. Zuo, L. R-Cartwright, N. Mirzai and H. Heidari, “Portable Diagnostic Platform for Rapid Detection of 2µL Paramagnetic Particles in 5s,” IEEE Interregional NEWCAS Conference (NEWCAS), 2023. DOI: 10.1109/NEWCAS57931.2023.10198080.
Y. Li, S. Zuo, J. Thompson, L. R-Cartwright, N. Mirzai and H. Heidari, “Magnetoresistance Sensor with Analog Frontend for Lab-on-Chip Malaria Parasite Detection,” IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems, 2021. DOI: 10.1109/ISCAS51556.2021.9401067.
Y. Liu, S. Zuo, X. Liang, H. Khanbareh, H. Heidari and R. Ghannam, “Gesture Recognition Wristband Device with Optimised Piezoelectric Energy Harvesters,” 27th IEEE International Conf. on Electronics, Circuits & Systems, 2020. DOI: 10.1109/ICECS49266.2020.9294809.
H. Heidari, S. Zuo, A. Krasoulis and K. Nazarpour, “CMOS Magnetic Sensors for Wearable Magnetomyography,” International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), Honolulu, HI, 2018. DOI: 10.1109/EMBC.2018.8512723.
X. Zhao, S. Zuo, R. Ghannam, Q. Abbasi, H. Heidari, “Design and Implementation of Portable Sensory System for Air Pollution Monitoring,” IEEE Asia Pacific Conf. Postgraduate Research Microelectronics and Electronics (PrimeAsia), 2018. DOI: 10.1109/PRIMEASIA.2018.8597655.
Y. Wang, S. Zuo, R. Ghannam and H. Heidari, “Smart Multi-Sensory Ball for Water Quality Monitoring,” IEEE Asia Pacific Conf. Postgraduate Research in Microelectronics and Electronics (PrimeAsia), Chengdu, China, 2018. DOI: 10.1109/PRIMEASIA.2018.8597945.
M. Cerezo Sanchez, S. Zuo, A. Moldovan, S. Cochran, K. Nazarpour and H. Heidari, “Flexible Piezoelectric Sensors for Miniaturized SonoMyoGraphy,” International Conference of IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society (EMBC), Guadalajara, Mexico, 2021. DOI: 10.1109/EMBC46164.2021.9630342.
S. Fotouhi, A. Tabatabaeian, S. Zuo, S. Liu, H. Heidari and M. Fotouhi, “Application of Electrical Resistance Change Method for Impact Damage Monitoring in Quasi-isotropic Hybrid Compo-sites,” International Conference on Mechanics of Composites, Porto, Portugal, 2021. (See Publication)
Y. Li, S. Zuo, J. Thompson, N. Mirzai, L. R-Cartwright and H. Heidari, “Handheld Magnetic-assisted Platform for Contactless Malaria Parasite Detection,” International Symposium on Integrated Circuits and Systems (ISICAS), Singapore, Sept. 3-4, 2021. (Submitted)

Ph.D. Thesis:

S. Zuo, “Integrated Pico-Tesla Resolution Magnetic Sensing System for Miniaturised MagnetoMyoGraphy,” PhD thesis, University of Glasgow, 2021. Link: http://theses.gla.ac.uk/82180 (Due to Embargo and/or Third Party Copyright restrictions, this thesis is not available in this service.)

Find Me

Telephone Number: +44 (0) 141 330 1713 & +44 (0) 793 546 6621

Email Address: siming.zuo@glasgow.ac.uk & siming@neuranics.com

Lab Address: Room 461, James Watt South Building, University of Glasgow, G12 8QQ

Company Address: 3rd Floor, Rothesay House, 134 Douglas Street, Glasgow, G2 4HF

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