Abstract
Implantable medical devices provide therapy to treat numerous health conditions as well as monitoring and diagnosis. Over the years, the development of these devices has seen remarkable progress thanks to tremendous advances in microelectronics, electrode technology, packaging and signal processing techniques. Many of today’s implantable devices use wireless technology to supply power and provide communication. There are many challenges when creating an implantable device. Issues such as reliable and fast bidirectional data communication, efficient power delivery to the implantable circuits, low noise and low power for the recording part of the system, and delivery of safe stimulation to avoid tissue and electrode damage are some of the challenges faced by the microelectronics circuit designer. This paper provides a review of advances in microelectronics over the last decade or so for implantable medical devices and systems. The focus is on neural recording and stimulation circuits suitable for fabrication in modern silicon process technologies and biotelemetry methods for power and data transfer, with particular emphasis on methods employing radio frequency inductive coupling. The paper concludes by highlighting some of the issues that will drive future research in the field.
Highlights
Neuroengineering, the application of engineering techniques to understand, repair, replace, enhance, or otherwise exploit the properties of neural systems, is a topic that is currently generating considerable interest in the research community
This paper provides a review of advances in microelectronics for implantable medical devices and systems
Each of these channels comprises a low noise amplifier (LNA) of the type described in Sections 2.1 and 2.2 and a bandpass filter, followed by a programmable gain amplifier (PGA) to maximize the output swing
Summary
Neuroengineering, the application of engineering techniques to understand, repair, replace, enhance, or otherwise exploit the properties of neural systems, is a topic that is currently generating considerable interest in the research community. Conditions, such as stroke, epilepsy, spinal cord injury, and Parkinson’s disease, to name but a few, as well as more general symptoms such as pain and depression, have been shown to benefit from implantable medical devices These devices are used to bypass dysfunctional pathways in the nervous system by applying electronics to replace lost function. Visual prosthesis translates camera input into electrical stimulation to the visual nervous system to create pixelized vision [5, 6], while vestibular prosthesis connects motion sensors to vestibular nerves to restore balance sensation [7, 8] Another example is deep brain stimulation (DBS) that has been shown to provide therapeutic benefits for otherwise treatment-resistant neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, tremor, and dystonia [9].
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