Platform Technologies for Minimally Invasive Physiological Monitoring

Abstract : Two critical problems exist in the engineering design of minimally invasive implantable devices: power supply and communication. Without solving these two problems, implantable devices will not be able to exchange information with the outside world and operate for extended periods of time. Currently, there exist only limited approaches to these problems. Inspired by the power delivery mechanisms of electric fish, we have developed a bio-mimetic approach using the volume conduction property of biological tissue as a natural cable to pass both information and power. A miniature device, called an energy pad, is designed. This device can be easily attached to the exterior of the skin for the purposes of communication and recharging of an implanted battery within the human body. The volume conduction system is analyzed by a linear network model and experimentally evaluated using samples of pig skin.

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