An AC-powered optical receiver consuming 270μW for transcutaneous 2Mb/s data transfer

Improving communication with implantable systems remains an important topic of research due to the limitations in power dissipation and the simultaneous need for high data rates. Neural recorders generate well above 10Mb/s data [1], which needs to be transmitted out-of-body. Multichannel stimulators, such as epiretinal implants, need control data in the range of several Mb/s for the into-body link [2]. Up to now, RF has been the dominant form of transcutaneous communication. One major issue is the crosstalk between the RF power link and the data signal. Therefore, dual-band telemetry is common in order to spectrally separate the data and power transfer. The standards reach from UWB transmitters [1], MICS band [3], to customized [2] RF receivers, often using sophisticated digital encoding. Also, orthogonal alignment has been used for the data and power coils to suppress crosstalk. Such RF communication needs a 2nd pair of coils, and the state-of-the-art power consumption ranges from 1.5 to 3nJ/b at rates of 120kb/s to 2.5Mb/s [3].