A fully-integrated semicircular canal processor for an implantable vestibular prosthesis

Abstract

This paper presents a fully-integrated semicircular canal processor for an implantable vestibular prosthesis. The system includes the entire processing chain required from the microsensor interface, through the required biomimetic transfer characteristics, to a current-mode signal, suitable for feeding the stimulator. Using a switched-capacitor implementation, the circuit is inherently tunable, whilst maintaining low power operation and overcoming the need for off-chip components. The entire system core occupies an area of 0.23 mm2 in a commercially available 0.35 mum CMOS technology.