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Biomedical Engineering Faculty

Arturo A. Ayon, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Electrical & ComputerEngineering
Associate Dean, College of Engineering

Educational Background:
B.S., University of Guadalajara
Ph.D., Cornell University
Postdoctoral, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Areas of Research Interest:

  • Nanotechnology applied to Drug Elution of Medical Implants
  • Utilization of Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMs) for Heart-Energy Harvesting
  • Fatigue Countermeasures
  • Microfluidic Simulation of Blood Vessa Phenomena
  • Nano Probes Deployed in the Human Body

    • My biomedical research activities focus on the utilization of nanoporous metal-oxide films in conjunction with self-assembled monolayers on drug elution schemes for medical implants; the deployment of arrays of MEMS actuators for harvesting the heart's mechanical energy and converting it to electrical energy to power sensors deployed in the human body or other medical implants such as automatic implantable defibrillators and bi-ventricular pacemakers; the application of electrical engineering approaches to demonstrate the respiratory delivery of sleep-induction drugs for either sleep disorders or sleep-deprived personnel; the microfluidic computer simulation of blood-vessel phenomena to improve stent design and improve the understanding of drug elution from medical implants; and the demonstration of inductively activated Nano Probes to be deployed in the blood stream to collect vital signs readings in real time.

    Other research interests include sensor arrays, micro-chemical reactors, the demonstration of miniaturized muon sensors (note: muons are negatively charged particles observed as a decay byproduct of cosmic rays), negative index of refraction materials, and the applications of MEMS to phase array antennas and other radio-frequency projects.

    In addition to these various research endeavors, I am currently organizing the MEMS Research Laboratory at UTSA.

    Selected Publications:

    A. Mahapatr, D.M. Johnson, D.N. Patel, M.D. Feldman, A.A. Ayon and C.M. Agrawal: Surface Modification of functional self assembled monolayers (SAMs) on 316L Stainless steel via lipase catalysis. Langmuir, 22(3), 901-905, 2006.

    D.M. Johnson, D. Marton, A. Mahapatro, M. Feldman, D. Patel, A. Ayon, and C.M. Agrawal: The Use of Alkanethiol Self-assembled Monolayers (SAMs) on 316L Stainless Steel for Coronary Artery Stent Nanomedicine Applications: An Oxidative and In Vitro Stability Study. Accepted for Publication in Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology, and Medicine, July 2006.

    A. A. Ayon, M. Cantu, K. Chava, C. M. Agrawal, M. D. Feldman, D. Johnson, D. Patel and E.Shi: Drug Loading of Nanoporous TiO2 Films. Journal of Biomedical Materials, Volume 1, No. 4, L11-L15, December 2006.

    Gopinath Mani, David M. Johnson, Denes Marton, Anil Mahapatro, Marc Feldman, Devang Patel, Arturo Ayon, and C.Mauli Agrawal: Stability of Therapeutic Self Assembled Monolayers during Drug loading and in-vitro Drug Delivery. Biomaterials 2006 Annual Meeting and Exposition, Pittsburgh, PA, April 26-29, 2006.

    Gopinath Mani, Davi M. Johnson, Denes Marton, Anil Mahapatro, Marc Feldman, Devang Patel, Arturo Ayon et al: Therapeutic Self Assembled Monolayers. Biomaterials 2006, Pittsburgh, PA, April 26-29, 2006.

    A.A. Ayon, C. M. Agrawal et al: Characterization of Nanoporous Titanium Dioxide Films for Biomedical Applications. Biomaterials 2006 Annual Meeting and Exposition, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, April 26-29, 2006.

    A.A. Ayon, C. M. Agrawal, K. Characterization of Nanoporous Titanium Dioxide Films for Biomedical Applications. Biomaterials 2006 Annual Meeting and Exposition, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, April 26-29, 2006.

    A.A. Ayon, C. M. Agrawal, K. Chava, M. D. Feldman, D. M. Johnson and D. Patel: Utilization of Nanoporous Titanium Dioxide Films on Drug-Eluting Stents, Biomaterials 2006, Pittsburgh, PA, April 26-29, 2006.

    C. Livermore, A. R. Forte, T. Lyszczarz, S. D. Umans, A.A. Ayon and J.H. Lang: A High-Power MEMS Electric Induction Motor. Journal of MicroElectroMechanical Systems,Vol. 13, No. 3, June 2004, pp. 465-471.

    X. Zhang, A. Mehra, A. A. Ayón and I. Waitz: Igniters and Temperature Sensors for a Micro Scale Combustion System. Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, Vol. 103, Issues 1-2, pp. 253-262, January 2003.

    N. Miki, X. Zhang, R. Khanna, A.A. Ayon et al: Multi-Stack Silicon-Direct Wafer Bonding for 3D MEMS Manufacturing. Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, Vol. 103, Issures 1-2, pp. 194-201, January 2003.

    R. L. Bayt, A. A. Ayon and K. S. Breuer: Micro Propulsion for the Aerospace Industry SENSORS, Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 43-48, February 2001.

    R. Khanna, X. Zhang, J. Protz and A. A. Ayon: Microfabrication Protocols for Deep Reactive Ion Etching and Wafer-Level Bonding. SENSORS, Vol. 18, No. 4, pp. 51-60, April 2001.

    K.-S. Chen, A. A. Ayon et al: Effect of Process Parameters on the Surface Morphology and Mechanical Performance of Silicon after Deep Reactive Ion Etching (DRIE). J. of MicroElectroMechanical Systems, Vol. 11, June 2002, pp. 264-275.

    A.P. London, A.H. Epstein, A.A. Ayon, s.M. Spearing, T. Harrison and J.L. Kerrebrock: Microfabrication of a High Pressure Bipropellant Rocket Engine. Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, Vol. 92, pp. 351-357, Aug. 2001.

    A.A. Ayon, R.L. Bayt et al: Deep Reactive Ion Etching: A Promising Technology for Micor and Nanosatellites. J. of Smart Materials and Structures; Space Applications for MEMS, Vol. 10, pp. 1135-1144, Dec. 2001.

    A. Mehra, X. Zhang, A. A. Ayon, I.A. Waitz, M.A. Schmidt and A. H. Epstein: A 6-Wafer Combustion System for a Silicon Micro gas Turbine Engine. J. of MicroElectroMechanical Systems, Vol. 9, pp. 517-527, Dec. 2000.

    A. Mehra, X. Zhang, A.A. Ayon, I.A. Waitz and M.A. Schmidt: A through-wafer Electrical Interconnect for Multi-Level MEMS Devices. J. of Vacuum Science and Technology, Vol. B18, pp. 2583-2589, Sept/Oct 2000.

    K. Ishihara, C.-F. Yung, A.A. Ayon et al: An Inertial Sensor Technology using DRIE and Wafer Bonding with Enhanced Interconnect Capability. J. Of MicroElectroMechanical Systems, Vol. 8, pp. 403-408, 1999.

    K.S. Chen, A.A. Ayon and S.M. Spearing: Tailoring and Testing the Fracture Strength of Silicon at the Mesoscale. J. of the American Ceramic Society, Vol. 83 [6], pp. 1476-1484, 2000.

    A.A. Ayon, K. Ishihara et al: Microfabrication and Testing of Suspended Structures Compatible with Silicon-on-Insulator Technology. J. of Vacuum Science and Technology, Vol. B17, pp. 1589-1593, July/August 1999.

    A.A. Ayon, K. Ishihara et al: Application of the Footing Effect in the Microfabrication of Self-Aligned, Free-Standing Structures. J. of Vacuum Science and Technology, Vol. A17, pp. 2274-2279, July/August 1999.

    A. Mehra, A.A. Ayon et al: Microfabrication of High Temperature Silicon Devices using Wafer Bonding and Deep Reactive Ion Etching. J. Of MicroElectroMechanical Systems, Vol. 8, pp. 152-160, 1999.

    A.A. Ayon, R. Braff, C.C. Lin, H.H. Sawin and M. Schmidt: Characterization of a Time Multiplexed Inductively Coupled Plasma Etcher. J. of the Electrochemical Society, Vol. 146, pp. 339-349, January 1999.

    A. Folch, A.A. Ayon, M. Toner and M.A. Schmidt: Molding of Deep Polydimethylsiloxane. Advanced Materials, Volume 9, pp. 741-746, 1998.

    Contact Information:

    College of Engineering, Room BSE 1.546
    Department of Electrical Engineering
    University of Texas at San Antonio
    Phone: 210-458-6564
    Fax: 210-458-5947
    Arturo.Ayon@utsa.edu

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