Philip Miller

Senior Member of the Technical Staff

(505) 845-9305

Sandia National Laboratories, New Mexico
P.O. Box 5800
Albuquerque, NM 87185-0892

Biography

Miller is interested studying biological systems via creation of devices/sensor systems capable of providing new insight into these hard to decipher physiological processes. Some of my recent work includes, development of microneedle sensors for monitoring stress in plants and ingestible capsules for sample collection in the GI tract.

Education

Bachelor’s Degree: Mechanical Engineering, North Carolina State University (2004-2008)

Doctoral Degree: Biomedical Engineering, Joint Department between University of North Carolina and North Carolina State University (2009-2015)

Postdoctoral Fellowships: Sandia National Laboratories (2015-2017)

Miller’s graduate research focused on creation of microneedle-based electrochemical sensing systems for wearable diagnostics applications. Multiplexed systems were developed for mapping biochemical profiles in skin or for characterizing complex microenvironments. In addition to sensor development, novel methods for hollow metal microneedle fabrication were investigated and produced arrays of microneedles on a flexible substrate.

Research Interests

Minimally Invasive Plant Sensors

Microneedle sensors for monitoring biotic and abiotic stresses in plants via impedance, turgor, and metabolite sensing systems are under development. Initial results show that the insertion and continual use of the microneedles in plants are well tolerated and do not initiate a toxic response. These devices can be placed into delicate tissue (e.g. leaves), but are strong enough to puncture and record signal from harder tissue (e.g. crown roots). Tissue specific impedance sensors can probe different leaf anatomy for monitoring hydration status and transport, and metabolite sensors are under development for tracking sugar transport.

Ingestible Sample Collector

No minimally invasive mechanisms exist for studying the GI tract. Miller is developing a swallowable capsule that can autonomously open and close a hermetically sealable valve to collect a biological sample in the upper GI tract. Various diseases are associated with the brain gut axis and fluctuating microbial communities may exhibit varying biochemical profiles that could be used as a diagnostic source. A capsule that can actuate a valve based on a specific organ system, collect the sample, and protect the sample from contamination is under development.

Publications

George Laity, Allen Robinson, Michael Cuneo, Mary Alam, Kristian Beckwith, Nichelle Bennett, Matthew Bettencourt, Stephen Bond, Kyle Cochrane, Louise Criscenti, Eric Cyr, Karen De Zetter, Richard Drake, Evstati Evstatiev, Andrew Fierro, Thomas Gardiner, Forrest Glines, Ronald Goeke, Nathaniel Hamlin, Russell Hooper, Jason Koski, James Lane, Steven Larson, Kevin Leung, Duncan McGregor, Philip Miller, Sean Miller, Susan Ossareh, Edward Phillips, Sean Simpson, David Sirajuddin, Thomas Smith, Matthew Swan, Aidan Thompson, Julien Tranchida, Asa Bortz-Johnson, Dale Welch, Alex Russell, Eric Watson, David Rose, Ryan McBride, (2021). Towards Predictive Plasma Science and Engineering through Revolutionary Multi-Scale Algorithms and Models (Final Report) https://doi.org/10.2172/1813907 Publication ID: 75144

Lauren Wheeler, Andrew Glen, Erika Roesler, Daniel Bowman, Philip Miller, Andres Sanchez, Darielle Dexheimer, Garth Rohr, Kent Pfeifer, Zachary Sharp, Jordan Wostbrock, (2020). Observations of Stratospheric Aerosols from Heliotrope Solar Hot Air Balloons https://doi.org/10.2172/1835008 Publication ID: 72104

Lauren Wheeler, Erika Roesler, Daniel Bowman, Darielle Dexheimer, Benjamin Hillman, Andres Sanchez, Andrew Glen, Philip Miller, Jasper Hardesty, Jordan Wostbrock, Zachary Sharp, (2019). Towards isotopically-enabled models of the stratosphere with implications for geoengineering https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1643443 Publication ID: 66764

Stephen Anthony, Philip Miller, Jerilyn Timlin, Ronen Polsky, (2019). Imaging effectiveness calculator for non-design microscope samples Applied Optics https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.58.006027 Publication ID: 65323

Philip Miller, Steven Branda, Ronen Polsky, Justin Baca, (2018). Extraction and biomolecular analysis of dermal interstitial fluid collected with hollow microneedles Communications Biology https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-018-0170-z Publication ID: 80709

George Wang, Michael Coltrin, Ping Lu, Philip Miller, Benjamin Leung, Xiaoyin Xiao, Keshab Sapkota, Francois Leonard, Gabriela Bran Anleu, Daniel Koleske, Jeffrey Tsao, Ganesh Balakrishnan, Sadhvikas Addamane, Jeffrey Nelson, (2018). Quantum Nanofabrication: Mechanisms and Fundamental Limits https://doi.org/10.2172/1474257 Publication ID: 59079

Ronald Manginell, Matthew Moorman, Robert Simonson, John Anderson, Jason Sammon, Philip Miller, Kent Pfeifer, Joshua Whiting, Ronald Manginell, (2018). Field Portable Micro GC and Micro GCxGC System Development for Chemicals and Biogenic VOCs https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1524266 Publication ID: 61994

Philip Miller, Eric Ackerman, (2018). Sandia National Labs Microneedle and microGC Tech https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1504561 Publication ID: 61318

Philip Miller, Jason Sammon, Ronen Polsky, Nathaniel Pfeifer, Eric Ackerman, (2018). Microneedle Sensors for in situ Measurements in Sorghum https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1500201 Publication ID: 61077

Philip Miller, Jason Sammon, Matthew Moorman, Joshua Whiting, Robert Simonson, Curtis Mowry, Adam Pimentel, Ronald Manginell, Kent Pfeifer, Komandoor Achyuthan, (2018). Systems for Plant Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Analysis https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1500200 Publication ID: 61078

Philip Miller, Philip Miller, Philip Miller, (2018). Tissue specific electrical impedance spectroscopy https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1495753 Publication ID: 60676

Philip Miller, (2018). Microneedles as Wearable Sensors for Plants https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1495752 Publication ID: 60677

Philip Miller, Ronen Polsky, Nathaniel Pfeifer, (2017). Microneedles for wearable sensing and interstitial fluid collection https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1485722 Publication ID: 54589

Matthew Moorman, Ronald Manginell, Robert Simonson, Curtis Mowry, Philip Miller, Kent Pfeifer, Komandoor Achyuthan, (2017). Systems for Plant Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Analysis https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1488338 Publication ID: 54672

Philip Miller, Ronen Polsky, (2017). Microneedles for Wearable Sensing and Interstitial Fluid Collection https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1478301 Publication ID: 53602

George Wang, Benjamin Leung, Xiaoyin Xiao, Arthur Fischer, Ping Lu, Philip Miller, Miao-Chan Tsai, Daniel Koleske, Michael Coltrin, Jeffrey Tsao, (2017). InGaN Quantum Dots by Quantum Size Controlled Photoelectrochemical Etching https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1507893 Publication ID: 57482

George Wang, Benjamin Leung, Xiaoyin Xiao, Arthur Fischer, Ping Lu, Philip Miller, Miao-Chan Tsai, Daniel Koleske, Michael Coltrin, Jeffrey Tsao, (2017). Quantum Size Controlled Etching of InGaN Quantum Dots https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1463430 Publication ID: 57755

Philip Miller, Ronen Polsky, (2016). On Body Transdermal Microneedle-Based Diagnostic Device to Measure Biomarker Signatures and Report on Human Performance https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1375607 Publication ID: 51670

Ronen Polsky, Philip Miller, Rhiana Rivas, David Johnson, Thayne Edwards, Markku Koskelo, Luay Shawa, Igal Brener, Victor Chavez, (2015). Handheld Microneedle-Based Electrolyte Sensing Platform https://doi.org/10.2172/1331523 Publication ID: 46492

Philip Miller, (2015). Transdermal Electrochemical Sensing and Biosensing with Hollow Microneedles https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1262623 Publication ID: 44306

Rhiana Rivas, Philip Miller, Ronen Polsky, (2015). Hand-Held Microneedle-Based Diagnostic Device https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1268153 Publication ID: 44460

Showing Results. Show More Publications

Selected Publications

A complete list of articles can be found on Google Scholar.

Miller, Philip R., et al. “Microneedle-Based Sensors for Medical Diagnostics.”J Mat Chem B, 2016, 4, 1379-1383.
BQ Tran, Miller, Philip R., et al. “Proteomic Characterization of Dermal Interstitial Fluid Extracted Using a Novel Microneedle-Assisted Technique”J Proteome Research, 2018, 17(1), 479-485.
Miller, Philip R., et al. “Integrated carbon fiber electrodes within hollow polymer microneedles for transdermal electrochemical sensing.” Biomicrofluidics 5.1 (2011): 013415.
Miller, Philip R., et al. “Multiplexed microneedle-based biosensor array for characterization of metabolic acidosis.” Talanta 88 (2012): 739-742.
Miller, Philip R., et al. “Microneedle‐Based Transdermal Sensor for On‐Chip Potentiometric Determination of K⁺” Advanced healthcare materials (2013). Cover Picture.
Miller, Philip R., et al. “Electrodeposited Iron as a Biocompatible Material for Microneedle Fabrication.” Electroanalysis 27.9 (2015): 2239-2249.

Awards, Honors, and Memberships

Mentor Research Award (2015)
Biomedical Engineering Society (2016)
Tau Beta Pi (2009)