Cited by 163Wireless Power Transfer SystemsWireless Body Area NetworksNeuroscience and Neural Engineering

Miniaturised wireless power transfer systems for neurostimulation: a review

Open access
Barbruni, Gian Luca, Ros, Paolo Motto, Demarchi, Danilo, Carrara, Sandro, Ghezzi, Diego·2020·IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems

Abstract

In neurostimulation, wireless power transfer is an efficient technology to overcome several limitations affecting medical devices currently used in clinical practice. Several methods were developed over the years for wireless power transfer. In this review article, we report and discuss the three most relevant methodologies for extremely miniaturised implantable neurostimulators: ultrasound coupling, inductive coupling and capacitive coupling. For each powering method, the discussion starts describing the physical working principle. In particular, we focus on the challenges given by the miniaturisation of the implanted integrated circuits and the related ad-hoc solutions for wireless power transfer. Then, we present recent developments and progresses in wireless power transfer for biomedical applications. Last, we compare each technique based on key performance indicators to highlight the most relevant and innovative solutions suitable for neurostimulation, with the gaze turned towards miniaturisation.

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  • Cables and connectors apply mechanical forces on the implant and the tissue, causing long-term scarring.

    “Moreover, cables and connectors apply mechanical forces on the implant and the tissue, causing long-term scarring [201].”

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  1. IEEE Standards Coordinating Committee. "IEEE standard for safety levels with respect to human exposure to radio frequency electromagnetic fields, 3kHz to 300GHz." In: IEEE C95. (1992), pp. 1-1991.
  2. S. A. Mirbozorgi, P. Yeon, and M. Ghovanloo. "Robust wire- less power transmission to mm-sized free-floating distributed implants. " In: IEEE transactions on biomedical circuits and systems 11.3 (2017), pp. 692-702.
  3. F. Marefat et al. "A 280µW 108dB DR Readout IC with Wireless Capacitive Powering Using a Dual-Output Regu- lating Rectifier for Implantable PPG Recording". In: 2020 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference-(ISSCC). IEEE. 2020, pp. 412-414.
  4. L. J. Zou et al. "Modelling Single-Wire Capacitive Power Transfer System with Strong Coupling to Ground." In: IEEE Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics. (2019).
  5. J. Li and C. T. Chan. "Double-negative acoustic metamate- rial." In: Physical Review E 70.5 (2004).
  6. Paolo Motto Ros is Senior Post-Doc Researcher at Politecnico di Torino (Torino, Italy), Dipartimento di Elettronica e Telecomunicazioni, with the MiNES (Micro&Nano Electronic Systems) group. He re- ceived the electronic engineering degree and the Ph.D. in electronic engineering from the Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy, in 2005 and 2009, respec- tively. From 2009 to 2012 he was with Neuronica Laboratory (Dipartimento di Elettronica, Politecnico di Torino) as post-doc researcher, working on as- sistive technologies, computer vision and learning machines projects (jointly with, 2006-2011, Istituto Nazionale Fisica Nu- cleare, INFN, Italy). From 2012 to 2019 he was with Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Center for Space Human Robotics, CSHR, Torino, Italy, and, since 2016, Electronic Design Laboratory, EDL, Genova, Italy) as senior (since 2014) post-doc researcher, working on bio-inspired electronics for biomedical and humanoid robotic applications. He joined the Politecnico di Torino, Dipartimento di Elettronica e Telecomunicazioni, in 2019. He is an IEEE member since 2016, and member of the Circuits And Systems (CAS) society; he was member of the organizing staff of the IEEE BioCAS 2017 conference, and member of the organizing committee of the IEEE ICECS 2019 conference. He counts 50+ publications; current research interests include: event-driven digital integrated circuits, architectures, and systems; low-power smart sensor networks; bio-inspired electronics; biomedical and humanoid robotic applications.
  7. Danilo Demarchi (M'10-SM'13) received Engi- neering Degree and Ph.D. in Electronics Engineering from Politecnico di Torino, Italy, in 1991 and 1995, respectively. Full position as Associate Professor at Politecnico di Torino, Department of Electronics and Telecommunications. Visiting Professor at EPFL Lausanne and at Tel Aviv University. Visiting Sci- entist (August 2018) at MIT and Harvard Medical School. Author and co-author of 5 patents and more than 250 scientific publications in international journals and peer-reviewed conference proceedings.
  8. Leading the MiNES (Micro&Nano Electronic Systems, http://mines.polito.it) Laboratory of Politecnico di Torino. Member of the BioCAS Technical Committee, Associate Editor of the Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems (TBioCAS), Associate Editor of IEEE Sensors and of the Springer Journal BioNanoScience. General Chair of BioCAS (Biomedical Circuits and Systems) Conference edition in Torino, October 2017 and founder of IEEE FoodCAS Workshop (Circuits and Systems for the Food Chain).
  9. Sandro Carrara (F'15) is an IEEE Fellow and also the recipient of the IEEE Sensors Council Technical Achievement Award. He is faculty at the EPFL in Lausanne (CH), former professor at the Universities of Genoa and Bologna (IT). He holds a PhD in Biochemistry and Biophysics from University of Padua (IT), a Master degree in Physics from Uni- versity of Genoa (IT), and a diploma in Electronics from National Institute of Technology in Albenga (IT). Along his carrier, he published 7 books with prestigious publishers such as Springer/NATURE and Cambridge University Press. He has more than 300 scientific publications and is author of 14 patents. He is Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Sensors Journal, the largest journal among 180 IEEE publications, and Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems. He is a member of the IEEE Sensors Council and his Executive Committee. He was a member of the Board of Governors (BoG) of the IEEE Circuits And Systems Society (CASS)

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Authors
Barbruni, G. L., Ros, P. M., Demarchi, D., Carrara, S., & Ghezzi, D.
Affiliations
  • Politecnico di Torino (IT)
  • École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (CH)
Venue
IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems
Published
2020-12
Volume
14
Issue
6
Pages
1160-1178
ISSN
  • 1932-4545 (ISSN-L)
  • 1940-9990
OpenAlex
W3102254533
Cited by
161
References
104
Citations by year
2026: 19 · 2025: 30 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 39 · 2022: 32 · 2021: 20
FWCI
1.13
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Infoscience (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PORTO@Iris (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Wireless Power Transfer Systems
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Wireless Body Area Networks
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neural Engineering
Keywords
wireless power transfer, neurostimulation, implantable neurostimulator, miniaturization, inductive coupling, capacitive coupling, biomedical devices
MeSH terms
Biomedical Engineering, Brain, Humans, Miniaturization, Electric Power Supplies, Prosthesis Design, Implantable Neurostimulators, Wireless Technology

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