Photothermal Modeling and Analysis of Intrabody Terahertz Nanoscale Communication

Wireless communication among implanted nano-biosensors will enable transformative smart health monitoring and diagnosis systems. The state of the art of nano-electronics and nano-photonics points to the terahertz (THz) band (0.1-10 THz) and optical frequency bands (infrared, 30-400 THz, and visible, 400-750 THz) as the frequency range for communication among nano-biosensors. Recently, several propagation models have been developed to study and assess the feasibility of intra-body electromagnetic (EM) nanoscale communication. These works have been mainly focused on understanding the propagation of EM signals through biological media, but do not capture the resulting photothermal effects and their impact both on the communication as well as on the body itself. In this paper, a novel thermal noise model for intra-body communication based on the diffusive heat flow theory is developed. In particular, an analytical framework is presented to illustrate how molecules in the human body absorb energy from EM fields and subsequently release this energy as heat to their immediate surroundings. As a result, a change in temperature is witnessed from which the molecular absorption noise can be computed. Such analysis has a dual benefit from a health as well as a communication perspective. For the medical community, the presented methodology allows the quantization of the temperature increase resulting from THz frequency absorption. For communication purposes, the complete understanding of the intra-body medium opens the door toward developing modulations suited for the capabilities of nano-machines and tailored to the peculiarities of the THz band channel as well as the optical window.