Seminar Series
"Miniaturization of High-Density Sensors for Wearable Medical Diagnostics"
Filip Stefanovic, PhD
University at Buffalo
Biomedical Engineering
Abstract: High-density electromyography (HD-EMG) and neurostimulation hold transformative potential for next-generation data-driven health care applications such as telehealth or AI-assisted tools. However, traditional systems are poorly aligned with these future applications due to their large size and complexity of use. By miniaturizing these systems into flexible stick-to-skin footprints, it is hypothesized that new diagnostic and therapeutic tools can be developed to spring-board future neuromuscular healthcare practices. Here, we present novel designs for ultra-portable HD-EMG, demonstrating how the required hardware can be scaled down from a desktop setup to the size of a band-aid. Specifically, HD-EMG amplifiers are miniaturized by streamlining parallel analog front-end processing (e.g., filtering, amplifications, etc.), significantly reducing device dimensions. Similarly, we introduce a high-density cluster electrode system that enables programmable electrode shapes and sizes with a 1 mm spatial resolution for customizable neuromuscular interventions. Creating small form-factor neurostimulators with hundreds of electrode contact points presents a significant wiring problem and highlights the need for new distributed architectures for wearable applications. Together, these advances provide a robust foundation for miniaturized devices to support continuous, high-fidelity neuromuscular sensing and targeted bioelectronic therapy for translational applications.
Biography: Dr. Filip Stefanovic is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University at Buffalo. Prior to this he was an Associate Professor of Teaching at UB. His research interests include the development of wearable neurorehabilitation technologies, computational neurophysiology in rehabilitation, and high-density sensors. Filip is the recipient of four awards at UB, including the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching (2025), UB Teaching Innovation (2024), Teaching Accessibility (2020), and Best Teaching Faculty of the Year (2018). His lab currently includes 2 PhD students and 8 Master’s students, and his research is funded by NSF DARE to explore neurostimulation and neuroplasticity. He also works with industry to develop new wearable technologies for rehabilitation. Filip has experience working in industry as an R&D Engineer for Autonomous IoT systems, and as a Research Scientist developing new electromyography-based medical devices. Filip received his PhD at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, his Master’s degree at the University of Belgrade, Serbia, in conjunction with Aalborg University, Denmark, and his BASc at the University of Toronto.
For a zoom link please contact Kate Harrison at kharrison@wpi.edu