Wireless Power Transfer for Implantable and Wearable Medical Devices

Abstract

Wireless power transmission (WPT) is a critical technology that provides a secure alternative mechanism for wireless power and communication with implantable medical devices. For instance, the inductive coupling tac-tic is mostly employed for transmission of energy to neurostimulators, and the ultrasonic method is used for deep-seated implants. The challenge of wearable and implantable wireless power transfer is that the implanted and wearable device may have various orientations and can go under deformation, bending, or rotation. All of these will cause inductive-based wireless transfer systems to be unstable. To overcome this issue various methods such as multi-coil, beamforming, and combined near and far-field wireless power transmission is used. This chapter provides a study concentrating on popular WPT techniques for implantable and wearable medical devices. The main types of patient movements that cause misalignments have been analyzed with two case studies. Moreover, an overview of multiple coil systems as a potential solution to overcome the problem of misalignment and bending challenges has been reviewed and analyzed with a comparison of important works in this field.