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Session: Neurophysiology: Biological Neural Networks
Session starts: Thursday 24 January, 10:40
Presentation starts: 10:55
Room: Lamoraalzaal

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Marijn van Dongen (TU Delft)
Wouter Serdijn (TU Delft)

Abstract:
Power efficiency and reliability are two key aspects for implantable neurostimulator devices. An integrated circuit (IC) stimulator design is proposed to address two important issues: 1. switched-mode operation, to allow for power efficient stimulation, and 2. Minimization of the number of external components to significantly increase reliability. The proposed stimulation scheme employs very high frequency current stimulation, in which current pulses with a pulse width in the order of 10ns are injected into the tissue with a frequency of 10MHz. The dynamic properties of the tissue [1] will filter these high frequencies and the resulting electric field can closely resemble the electric field resulting from classical stimulation strategies. The system is designed to have an implantable battery of 3 to 4V as its only energy source, while it is capable of delivering stimulation amplitudes up to 10V. The properties of the system allow for implementing the required safety mechanisms commonly found in neural stimulators, such as charge cancellation. Thanks to the high frequency switched-mode operation, the power efficiency can be increased up to 80%, reducing space requirements for the battery. Furthermore the system uses a single inductor as its only external component, thereby further increasing the implantability of the system. Tissue simulations confirm the ability of this high frequency stimulation to generate an electric field similar to classical stimulation strategies. A prototype has been developed and successfully tested on tissue models and a volunteer. Work is being carried out towards a fully integrated design.