In this study, we present a comprehensive review of polymer-based microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) electromagnetic (EM) actuators and their implementation in the biomedical engineering field. The purpose of this review is to provide a comprehensive summary on the latest development of electromagnetically driven microactuators for biomedical application that is focused on the movable structure development made of polymers. The discussion does not only focus on the polymeric material part itself, but also covers the basic mechanism of the mechanical actuation, the state of the art of the membrane development and its application. In this review, a clear description about the scheme used to drive the micro-actuators, the concept of mechanical deformation of the movable magnetic membrane and its interaction with actuator system are described in detail. Some comparisons are made to scrutinize the advantages and disadvantages of electromagnetic MEMS actuator performance. The previous studies and explanations on the technology used to fabricate the polymer-based membrane component of the electromagnetically driven microactuators system are presented. The study on the materials and the synthesis method implemented during the fabrication process for the development of the actuators are also briefly described in this review. Furthermore, potential applications of polymer-based MEMS EM actuators in the biomedical field are also described. It is concluded that much progress has been made in the material development of the actuator. The technology trend has moved from the use of bulk magnetic material to using magnetic polymer composites. The future benefits of these compact flexible material employments will offer a wide range of potential implementation of polymer composites in wearable and portable biomedical device applications.

SPR-based technology has emerged as one of the most versatile optical tools for analyzing the binding mechanism of molecular interaction due to its inherent advantages in sensing applications, such as real-time, label-free, and high sensitivity characteristics. SPR is widely used in various fields, including healthcare, environmental management, and food-borne illness analysis. Meanwhile, kidney disease has grown to be one of the world’s most serious public health problems in recent decades, resulting in physical degeneration and even death. As a result, several studies have published their findings regarding developing of reliable sensor technology based on the SPR phenomenon. However, an integrated and comprehensive discussion regarding the application of SPR-based sensors for detecting of kidney disease has not yet been found. Therefore, this review will discuss the recent advancements in the development of SPR-based sensors for monitoring kidney-related diseases. Numerous SPR configurations will be discussed, including Kretschmann, Otto, optical fiber-based SPR, and LSPR, which are all used to detect analytes associated with kidney disease, including urea, creatinine, glucose, uric acid, and dopamine. This review aims to show the broad application of SPR sensors which encouraged the development of SPR sensors for kidney problems monitoring.

Perovskite solar cells (PSC) have become a growing research interest due to their flexibility, attractive properties, and low production cost. However, the thin-film structure of PSC often results in a not fully absorbed incident light by the active layer, which is crucial to determine PSC efficiency. Thus, the fabrication of an active layer with unique nanostructures is often used to enhance light absorption and general PSC efficiency. Using the theoretical simulation based-on Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) technique, this work demonstrates the successful improvement of light absorption by embedding corrugated void-like structure and perovskite thickness modification. The investigation of a corrugated void-type anti-reflection layer effect on light absorption is done by modifying the radius (r) and lattice constant (a) to obtain the optimum geometry. In addition, the MAPbI₃ perovskite layer thickness is also adjusted to examine the optimum light absorption within the visible length to near-infrared. The theoretical calculations show that the optimum r = 692 nm and a = 776 nm. Meanwhile, the optimum absorber layer thickness is 750 nm. Compared to flat PSC, our proposed PSC absorbed more light, especially in the near-infrared region. Our result shows demonstrates the successful enhancement of light absorption by embedding corrugated void-like structure and modifying the perovskite thickness using a theoretical simulation based on the FDTD technique.

Perovskite solar cells (PSC) are currently exhibiting reproducible high efficiency, low-cost manufacturing, and scalable electron transport layers (ETL), which are becoming increasingly important. The application of photonic crystals (PC) on solar cells has been proven to enhance light harvesting and lead solar cells to adjust the propagation and distribution of photons. In this paper, the optimization of a two-dimensional nanodisk PC introduced in ETL with an organic-inorganic lead-iodide perovskite (methylammonium lead-iodide, MAPbI₃) as the absorber layer was studied. A finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation was used to evaluate the optical performance of PSC with various lattice constants and a radius of nanodisk photonic crystals. According to the simulation, the optimum lattice constant and PC radius applied to ETL are 500 nm and 225 nm, respectively. This optimum design enhances PSC absorption performance by more than 94% of incident light.

Purpose: The paper aims to examine the casual role of higher-order thinking skills as a mediator in the relationship between students’ strength in mathematics and achievement in electrical and electronic engineering education. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study adopted a quantitative research design where random cluster sampling was used to select a total of 488 final-year students from four technical universities in Ghana. Mathematics achievement tests were used to gather data on students’ higher-order thinking skills and competence in five areas of mathematics. Also, their examination results were collected from their respective universities. Mediation analysis was done using AMOS 26. Finding: The study revealed that the positive effect of students’ strengths in the five selected mathematics topics on their performance in electrical and electronic engineering education is mediated by their higher-order thinking skills. Conclusion: The research concludes that there is a partial mediation in the relationship between students’ strength in mathematics and achievement in electrical and electronic engineering education by higher-order thinking skills. Research Limitations: It is recommended that further researchers carry out similar research with more mathematics indicators to explain more variations in achievement in electrical and electronic engineering education. Practical Implication: Engineering mathematics curriculum developers should stress the need for mathematics, especially algebra, for the development of higher-order thinking skills to facilitate problem-solving in electrical and electronic engineering education and practice. Contribution to Literature: This study highlights the relationship between the understanding of the concepts of specific mathematics topics, higher-order thinking skills, and achievement in electrical and electronic engineering education.

The properties of light and its interaction with biological analytes have made it possible to design sophisticated and reliable optical-based biomedical sensors. In this paper, we report the simulation, design, and fabrication of microring resonator (MRR)-based sensors for the detection of diabetic glucose levels. Electron Beam Lithography (EBL) with 1:1 hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ) negative tone resist were used to fabricate MRR on a Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) platform. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was then used to characterize the morphology of the MRR device. The full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) and quality factors of MRR were obtained by using a tunable laser source (TLS) and optical spectrum analyzer (OSA). In this paper, the three-dimensional Finite Difference Time Domain (3D FDTD) approach has been used to simulate the proposed design. The simulation results show an accurate approximation with the experimental results. Next, the sensitivity of MRR-based sensors to detect glucose levels is obtained. The sensitivity value for glucose level detection in the range 0% to 18% is 69.44 nm/RIU. This proved that our MRR design has a great potential as a sensor to detect diabetic glucose levels.