Your body can be a transmitter for high-density brain implants

Next-generation brain implants aim to be smaller and carry more electrodes while consuming low power. Imec recently designed a new low-power, miniature chip for large-scale recordings that is 16 times smaller than the state of the art. The impressive miniaturization (total area per channel of 0.005 mm²) was achieved by applying smart design solutions on the one hand and harnessing the advantages of a smaller technology node on the other hand. The chip uses a direct digitization architecture which aims at converting the weak neural signals from the analog to the digital domain as close as possible to the electrodes that capture them. This approach saves area and improves the signal quality. In addition, with this new prototype, the team explored for the first time a 22nm CMOS technology.

At the same time, imec is working on the wireless transfer of the enormous amounts of data these high-density probes create. They designed an ultra-wideband (UWB) transmitter chip that pushes data rates up to 1.66 Gb/s using little power. In addition, the researchers increased the wireless part of the system by removing the wire between the implant and the head-mounted or subcutaneous module. Using galvanic-coupled body channel communication, imec demonstrates a transdural link that can transmit the implant’s data at an incredible >250 Mbps data rate. Lastly, the team works on ways to compress the data. A clever neuromorphic sensing system based on how neurons relay information demonstrates data compression rates of >125 times, barely requiring energy. These advancements will enable the next leap into miniature, high-density, low-power wireless brain implants.

Read all the details in the full article, published in DesignNews