A Bidirectional Wireless Link for Neural Prostheses that Minimizes Implanted Power Consumption

Abstract

We describe a bidirectional impedance-modulation wireless data link for implanted neural prostheses. The link uses near-field inductive coupling between the implanted system and an external transceiver. It is designed to minimize power consumption in the implanted system and support high data rates in the uplink direction (from the implanted to the external system). Experimental results demonstrate data transfer rates up to 5.8 Mbps in the uplink direction and 300 kbps in the downlink direction at a link distance of 2 cm. The link dissipates 100 muW in the implanted system and 2.5 mW in the external system, making it among the most power-efficient inductive data links reported.