A Wireless Artificial Mechanoreceptor in 180-nm CMOS.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Integrated Circuits
• Sensor Technology

Background:

• Tactile sensing is crucial for human-machine interaction and prosthetics.
• Existing implantable systems face challenges in power delivery and data transmission.
• Miniaturization and low power consumption are key for implantable devices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a low-power, implantable wireless integrated system for tactile sensing applications.
• To demonstrate a hybrid integration of an ASIC with a MEMS capacitive force sensor.
• To enable robust wireless power and data transfer using magnetic human body communication.

Main Methods:

• Designed and fabricated a 180nm CMOS ASIC with a low-loss magnetic human body communication channel.
• Hybrid-integrated the ASIC with an in-house MEMS capacitive force sensor.
• Implemented an on-chip correlated double sampling capacitance to time converter and a time-multiplexed mode.
• Utilized wireless power management feedback and OOK/FSK modulation for data transmission.

Main Results:

• Achieved 2.0fF resolution with 750nW power consumption for the capacitance to time converter.
• Demonstrated a figure of merit (FoM) of 49 fJ/c-s with a small chip area of 0.04 mm².
• The complete 1.62mm² chip consumes 110.3 $$ and supports robust wireless communication.

Conclusions:

• The developed implantable system offers a low-power, high-resolution solution for tactile sensing.
• Magnetic human body communication provides an efficient channel for wireless power and data transfer in implants.
• This technology paves the way for advanced artificial mechanoreceptors and improved prosthetic functionality.