High Data Rate Communications In Vivo Using Ultrasound

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Medical Imaging
• Communications Engineering

Background:

• In-body medical devices require efficient data transmission.
• Current electromagnetic methods have limited data rates and power.
• Ultrasound shows promise for high-speed through-tissue data transmission.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate ultrasonic video communication using a miniaturized transmitter.
• To achieve data rates exceeding 1 Mbps for real-time video streaming.
• To address challenges of miniaturization, multipath effects, and attenuation in ultrasonic communication.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a mm-scale microcrystal transmitter and a camera-FPGA system for video streaming.
• Transmitted ultrasound signals through a tissue phantom and rabbit abdomen in vivo.
• Employed an ultrasound array probe and Verasonics Vantage system for signal reception and decoding.
• Implemented multi-channel signal combination and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) for enhanced signal quality and receiver complexity reduction.

Main Results:

• Achieved ultrasonic video communication with a mm-scale transmitter.
• Successfully transmitted and decoded video signals through tissue.
• Demonstrated the feasibility of high-speed (data rates > 1 Mbps) ultrasonic communication for in-body devices.

Conclusions:

• Miniaturized ultrasonic transmitters enable high-speed video streaming from within the body.
• Ultrasound is a viable alternative to electromagnetic communication for advanced in-body medical devices.
• The developed system overcomes key challenges for practical implementation of ultrasonic in-body communication.