University of Pittsburgh

Mingui Sun, PhD

Professor of Neurological Surgery, Bioengineering and Electrical Engineering
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Biography
 	

	
Mingui Sun, PhD, received a BS degree in instrumental and industrial automation in 1982 from the Shenyang Chemical Engineering Institute in Shenyang, China, and an MS degree in electrical engineering in 1986 from the University of Pittsburgh, where he also earned a PhD degree in electrical engineering in 1989. He was later appointed to the faculty in the Department of Neurological Surgery.
Dr. Sun’s research interests include neurophysiological signals and systems, biosensor designs, brain-computer interface, bioelectronics and bioinformatics. He has more than 300 publications.
Dr. Sun's publications can be reviewed through the National Library of Medicine's publication database.
Professional Organization Membership
American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society
IEEE Signal Processing Society
IEEE Circuit and Systems Society
American Telemedicine Association
	
	





	
Research Activities
	
	

	
Supported by the NIH Genes, Environment and Health Initiative, Dr. Sun and his colleagues have developed a unique electronic device called the eButton for objective measurement of lifestyle (including diet, physical activity, environment, social interaction, etc.), diagnosis of certain behavior-related neurological disorders, and assessment of therapeutic effects.
This “all-in-one” device appears as a chest button (62mm in diameter, 10mm in thickness) with a personalized design. It can be conveniently attached to a jacket or a shirt using a pin or a pair of magnets. eButton contains a low-power, high-performance microprocessor. The mass storage of this device is a micro SD card with enough capacity to hold more than one week of data. eButton is also equipped with a variety of electronic sensors including a video camera, a GPS sensor, a multi-axis accelerometer, a multi-axis gyroscope, a daylight sensor, and a thermometer.After a designated study period on patients, the device is returned to the lab where the stored data are uploaded to a computer for analysis.
Dr. Sun and his colleagues have conducted a series of laboratory tests and evaluated this device on 18 human subjects for more than 1000 hours in real-life settings. This work has been well-received by the research community, highlighted by Nature magazine, and reported in public media worldwide.