Siming Zuo, Ph.D.

Stay Foolish, Stay Hungry, Stay Young.

by Tom Hiddleston 

Biography

Dr. Siming Zuo is an early career researcher working on fundamental research to develop magnetic sensors and microelectronics for biomedical applications. His research focuses on next generation miniaturized magnetic sensing systems for wearable and implantable magnetomyography

He is currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate within the Microelectronics Lab (meLAB) group at the James Watt School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, UK. He received his double B.Eng. degrees in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China and the University of Glasgow in July 2017, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Glasgow in May 2021. He was employed as a Research Technician from February to May 2021 under Wellcome Trust Translational Partnership. In October 2018, he was awarded an international fellowship for joining the Collaborative Research Centre 1261 at Kiel University, Germany. He has authored and co-authored over 30 peer-reviewed publications in top-tier journals or conference proceedings and acts as a reviewer for several journals and conferences. In addition, he has contributed an IET book chapter as the first author on innovative prosthetic control solutions using magnetic sensors. He also received several awards, including the Best Paper Award from IEEE PrimeAsia’18 and Student Travel Grants in ISCAS’19, UKCAS’19 and ISCAS’20.

He is also a Co-Founder and Director of Engineer at Neuranics Limited. In partnership with a top and multinational company, they aim to develop a next-generation wearable myomagnetic device for human-computer interactions in the area of muscle and nerve diseases and neurotechnology fields, such as rehabilitation and AR/VR gaming.

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. 2021 – Present

Research Fellow, University of Glasgow, UK

Experience

June 2021 – Nov. 2022

Research Associate, University of Glasgow, UK

Feb. 2021 – May 2021

Research Technician, University of Glasgow, UK

Oct. 2017 – Mar. 2021

Doctoral Researcher, University of Glasgow, UK

Oct. 2018 – Mar. 2019

Scientific Staff, University of Kiel, Germany

Review Services (20+ papers)

Journal Articles:

Review Services

Conference Proceedings:

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). 

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.

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

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.

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Ph.D. Thesis:

Find Me

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

Email Adrress: siming.zou@glasgow.ac.uk & zuosimingleon@gmail.com 

Office Adrress: Room 724, James Watt South Building, University of Glasgow, UK