Development of low-power and high-efficiency artificial sensory neurons

National Research Council of Science and Technology

In daily life and in all industries, the spread of artificial intelligence is rapid. This method increases the burden on the environment by consuming a lot of power to drive the system and transmit data. In times of war or disasters, it may become useless due to power collapse and network failures, the consequences of which may be even more serious if it is an artificial intelligence service in the life and safety field. The low-power and high-efficiency technology that mimics the information processing mechanism of the human nervous system is drawing attention.

The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) announced that a team led by Dr. Suyoun Lee has succeeded in developing artificial sensory neurons that will be key to the practical use. The brain can quickly integrate and perform complex tasks if the brain is able to refine vast external stimuli into information in the form of spikes.

The high resistance state of the threshold switch is maintained by a two-terminal device that is below the switch voltage. An artificial neuron device that mimics the action of neurons generated a spike signal when the input signal exceeded a specific intensity.

The three-terminal ovonic threshold switch (3T-OTS) is a device that can control the switch voltage in order to mimic the behavior of neurons and quickly find and abstract patterns among vast amounts of data input to sensory organs. By connecting a sensor to the third electrode of the 3T-OTS device, it was possible to create a sensory neuron device that changes the spike patterns according to the external stimuli.

An artificial visual neuron device that mimics the information processing method of human sensory organs was realized by the research team. The team was able to distinguish COVID-19 infections from viral pneumonia by using image learning of chest X-rays, and by connecting an artificial visual neuron device with an artificial neural network that mimics the visual center of the brain.

The artificial sensory neuron device is a platform technology that can implement various sensory neuron devices such as sight and touch, by connecting with existing sensors. It is a crucial building block for in-sensor computing.

He explained the significance of the research that will make a great contribution to solving various social problems related to life and safety, such as, developing a medical diagnostic system that can diagnose simultaneously with examinations, predicting acute heart disease through time-series pattern analysis of pulse and blood pressure.

More information: Hyejin Lee et al, Three-Terminal Ovonic Threshold Switch (3T-OTS) with Tunable Threshold Voltage for Versatile Artificial Sensory Neurons, Nano Letters (2022). DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c04125 Journal information: Nano Letters Provided by National Research Council of Science & Technology Citation: Development of low-power and high-efficiency artificial sensory neurons (2022, April 8) retrieved 8 April 2022 from https://phys.org/news/2022-04-low-power-high-efficiency-artificial-sensory-neurons.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.