Mingui Sun, PhD

  • Professor

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 460 publications.

Dr. Sun's publications can be reviewed through the National Library of Medicine's publication database.

Specialized Areas of Interest

Biomedical engineering; biomedical instrumentation; biomedical signal processing, computational neurophysiology, image and video processing; computer-assisted neurosurgery and diagnosis.

Professional Organization Membership

American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Education & Training

  • BS, Instrumentation/Industrial Automation, Shenyang Chemical Institute, 1982
  • MS, Electrical Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, 1986
  • PhD, Electrical Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, 1989

Research Activities

• Developing a Diet Sensor
It is well-known that an unhealthy diet is a top risk factor causing obesity and chronic diseases. Despite the importance of nutrition to health, scientists currently do not have user-friendly tools to conduct dietary assessment in real life. Months or years are often necessary to reverse a chronic condition by changing diet. Recently, Dr. Sun has been investigating a novel sensor system that conducts dietary assessment for macronutrients (carbohydrates, fats and proteins) automatically, leveraging on a coin-sized commercial sensor that measures interstitial glucose. This FDA-approved, low-cost and safety-proven sensor, called Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM), has been used clinically for both diabetes management and research in heathy populations. Dr. Sun believes this convenient sensor can be converted to a powerful diet sensor using novel theoretical models and computational techniques. He has studied a unified food model which accumulates daily amounts of macronutrients ingested from real-world foods and beverages. Using this model, a novel technological framework will be established based on the theory of feedback dynamic control. If successful, Dr. Sun’s study may yield a powerful technology for a vast number of people who need to control diet-related diseases and conditions.