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Recently, phubbing has led to a significant increase in neck-related diseases such as cervical disk (CVD) herniation. CVDs experience a typical pressure of approximately 200 kPa in the upright position, which increases dramatically with the degrees of flexion. Thus, there is a high probability for patients who have undergone the cervical artificial disk replacement surgery to have the revision surgery owing to inappropriate postures. Herein, a highly sensitive piezoresistive pressure sensor array with a wide sensing range of up to 1000 kPa, using polyethylene oxide (PEO) as the sensing membrane and polyaniline (PANI) as the conductive filler, is proposed to real-time monitor the pressure distribution on CVDs. The optimal PANI doping concentration in PANI:PEO composite films was determined to be 0.1%, which demonstrated excellent sensitivity of 0.279 kPa $^{-{1}}$ , a high coefficient of determination ( ${R} ^{{2}}$ ) of 0.959, and a short relaxation time of 0.72 s of the PANI:PEO piezoresistive pressure sensors. To accommodate the sensor array within the limited space of the cervical vertebrae, the electrode size of the devices was significantly reduced to less than $100~\mu $ m to realize a $2\times 3$ PANI:PEO piezoresistive pressure sensor array. The fabricated pressure sensor array effectively monitored the pressure distribution on CVDs in a cervical spine model with a full cervical spine and dual cervical vertebrae under different flexion angles, holding favorable potential to avoid further CVD herniation after the cervical artificial disk replacement surgery.

Fundamental contributions of nanotechnology include but are not limited to miniaturization, energy efficiency, higher efficiency and/or effectiveness. The exploration of new computing paradigms such as bioinspired computation and quantum computing belongs to the latter. Continuous advances in semiconductor technology include “more Moore” technology, which follows Moore's law of scaling, and “more than Moore” technology realized by hybrid integration with new materials. Much success appears in functionality and scaling in the fields of electronics, optics, sensors, and biomedical applications. In this article, we will show how one can further combine graphene, new 2D materials, and novel nanomaterials extending into the quantum realm that are at the cutting-edge of modern scientific and engineering research. This article demonstrates the impacts of nanotechnology and quantum computing including materials to devices, module demonstration, and the quantum era. In addition, a hybrid-transistor-based artificial reflex arc (ARA) and artificial pain modulation system (APMS) are discussed that illustrate future intelligent alarm systems, neuroprosthetics, and neurorobotics.

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has been widely used to fabricate the photodetectors in recent years due to its excellent optical properties. However, the narrow detection bandwidth of MoS2 films limits their applications. Here, a thin Al film was deposited on the surface of MoS2 and naturally oxidized to form the AlxOy nanoparticles (AlxOy-NPs) for the enhanced performance of graphene/AlxOy-NPs/MoS2 heterostructure photodetectors. The material analyses were performed to confirm the formation of AlxOy-NPs on MoS2 and its influence on light absorption. Additionally, the photoresponse of graphene/AlxOy-NPs/MoS2 heterostructure photodetectors was investigated, and found that the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) was induced in the ultraviolet-A (UV-A) band (365 nm), increasing the photocurrent owing to the p-type nature of graphene channel with the recombination of excited electrons from AlxOy-NPs/MoS2 to enhance the photoresponse. The photodetectors with an AlxOy film of 0.5 nm presented a UV-A light detection capability with the photoresponsivity, quantum efficiency, and detectivity of 6.24 A/W, 2120%, and $1.79\times 10^{{10}}$ Jones, respectively, at the optical power of 10 mW/cm2. Thus, the proposed one-step growth method of AlxOy-NPs on MoS2 films to fabricate the graphene/AlxOy-NPs/MoS2 heterostructure photodetectors with excellent photoresponse can facilitate the development of novel 2-D material photodetectors in future.