ECE 8803/4803
Implantable Microelectronic
Devices
Fall - 2015
Maysam Ghovanloo
(mgh@gatech.edu)
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
© 2015 Maysam Ghovanloo
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Overview
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Introduction
Course syllabus
 Textbooks and other references
 Grading
 Course topics
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Implantable Microelectronic Devices
Simple design example:
An implantable temperature sensor
© 2015 Maysam Ghovanloo
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Administrative
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Sessions: Mon, Wed, 4:30 – 6:00 pm, Weber SST III
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Course Webpage:
http://www.ece.gatech.edu/academic/courses/ece8803/F15
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TA: None
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Office Hours: Arrange via email, TSRB-419
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Prerequisites*: ECE3040, ECE3025, ECE3084
Solid-state circuits, Electromagnetics, Signals and Systems
* Come and talk to me if you have strong circuits background
or have taken equivalents of these course.
© 2015 Maysam Ghovanloo
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Textbooks and Other References
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None required!
Implantable Electronic Medical
Devices, D. Fitzpatrick
Journals:
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IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits
Journal of Neural Engineering
IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems
IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering
IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and
Rehabilitation Engineering
 IEEE Sensors Journal
Search Databases (Available through NCSU library):
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IEEE Xplore
ISI Web of Knowledge
Science Direct
US Patent and Trademark Office, Google Patent
© 2015 Maysam Ghovanloo
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Grading
 Active Participation in class discussions
10%
 Reading assignments summaries
10%
 Quizzes
10%
 Class presentations
(I, II, III)
10%, 10%, 20%
 Emphasis on the critical evaluation of the topics.
 Final Project exploratory proposal (NSF/NIH style) or
overview article + Final presentation
30%
 Detailed guidelines will be provided in class.
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Course Topics
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Introduction
Excitable cells and action potentials
Biosignals and biosignal processing
Microelectrodes and leads
Telemetry and inductive powering
Implantable batteries
Biocompatibility and hermetic packaging
Cardiac devices
Neuroprosthetic devices
Pain management
Neuromuscular stimulators
Gastrointestinal devices and obesity treatment
Drug delivery devices and infusion pumps
Diabetes treatment
Rehabilitation Engineering
Implantable biosensors
Neural recording systems
Brain computer interfacing
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Applications of Implantable Devices
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Implantable Microelectronics
Miniaturization and
Integration (SoC)
Electrical
Engineering
Wireless
Communication
BioMicroSystems
Low Power
Consumption
Biomedical
Engineering
• Medicine and biology
• Material science
• Packaging and mechanical design
• Software and signal processing
• Electronic circuitry (analog/digital/mixed-signal)
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Pacemakers and Defibrillators
• First implantable pacemaker: 1959
• Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD)
• Train of 0.5 ~ 8 V pulses
• 750 V shock pulses
• Average power: 8 W
• Battery lifetime: 10 years
Medtronic Corporation
© 2015 Maysam Ghovanloo
Electronic Design Magazine
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ICD Therapy
Guidant Corporation
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ICD Therapy consists of pacing,
cardioversion (restoring the normal heart
rhythm), and defibrillation therapies to treat
brady and tachy arrhythmias.
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An external programmer is used to monitor
and access the device parameters and
therapies for each patient.
Boston Scientific
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Neuromodulation
• Medtronic
DBS, SCS, Bladder Control
• Boston Scientific
Pacemaker, SCS
•Cochlear
Cochlear Implant
• Synapse Biomedical
Diaphragm Pacing
• Advanced Bionics
Cochlear Implant, BION
• Advanced Neuromodulation
SCS
• Blackrock Microsystems
Brain-Computer Interfacing
• Cyberonics
Vagus Nerve Stimulation
IEEE Spectrum – April 2004
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Spinal Cord and Neuromuscular
Stimulators
• Pain Management
• Functional neuromuscular stimulation
• Bladder control for urinary incontinence
• Elimination of atrophy in paralyzed limbs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Zwzr9Sc1Bk
Advanced Bionics Inc.
Advanced Neuromodulation Systems
Electronic Design Magazine
Alfred Mann Institute - USC
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BIONTM, Single Channel Injectable
Stimulator
• The BION technology was developed
by
Advanced Bionics
G.E. Loeb and completed by Advanced
Bionics and Alfred Mann Foundation.
• The device consists of a miniature
rechargeable battery; a battery
management system (BMS), which is
responsible for remote reprogramming
and recharging of the battery; and an
advanced microstimulator.
Battery-powered BIONTM implant
Quallion, LLC
• Rechargeable lithium battery should last
for 10 years.
• Different types of
BION have been
developed.
G.E. Loeb et al.
© 2015 Maysam Ghovanloo
Miniature rechargeable battery for
BIONTM
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Neuromuscular Stimulators
An external controller sends commands to an implanted device that jolts
Jennifer French's muscles into action in the correct sequence, allowing her
to stand up out of her wheelchair.
IEEE Spectrum
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Deep Brain Stimulators
• Control of essential tremor
• Treatment of Parkinson’s disease
• Treatment of seizure disorders
• Treatment of epilepsy
Medtronic Corporation
© 2015 Maysam Ghovanloo
www.Med-ars.it
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Targeting Deep Brain Structures
McIntyre et al. EMBS 2006
Targeting the right region
of brain when placing
electrodes is extremely
important in DBS surgery.
Courtesy of Dr. R. Murrow
Proper selecting of the stimulation parameters such as stimulus amplitude,
pulse width, pulse frequency, and even pulse shape affect the current spread
into the neural tissue and are equally important.
© 2015 Maysam Ghovanloo
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Effect of DBS on Parkinson Patient
Courtesy of Prof. K.D. Wise
Medtronic Corporation
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Auditory and Visual Prostheses
 Auditory Prosthesis:
• 10% of the world population experience a
limited quality of life because of hearing
impairment.
• USA statistics:
Profoundly deaf: 0.4 million
Hearing Impaired: 20 million
Cochlear Corporation
Second Sight
 Visual Prosthesis:
• World statistics:
Profoundly Blind: 45 million
Visually Impaired: 180 million
• USA statistics:
Profoundly Blind: 1.3 million
Visually Impaired: 10 million
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Cochlear and Retinal Implants
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Commercially available since early 80’s.
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30,000 auditory nerves.
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Currently under development. First
chronic human trial in 2002.
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1.2 Million optic nerves.
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Approved by FDA in 2013
More than 70,000 children and adults use
cochlear implants.
A minimum of 6 ~ 8 stimulating sites
needed to converse on the phone.
Advanced Bionics Inc.
A minimum of 800 ~ 1000 sites needed to
read large fonts.
University of Southern California
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Major Challenges in Visual Prostheses
• Number of stimulating sites
A minimum of 625 pixels are needed
to restore a functional sensation.
• Stimulation strategy
Provide maximum flexibility to
support future advanced strategies.
• High Bandwidth
Transmit maximum data volume with
minimum number of carrier cycles.
• Low Power consumption
Minimize the implant temperature
rise and tissue exposure to EM field.
• Implant size, assembly, and packaging
From the size of a matchbox to a button.
480
8
16
32
64
128
××6×51
13
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102
384
48 Pixels
208
832
3,264
13,056
184,320
Pixels
Pixels
Pixels
Pixels
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Micromachined Electrode Arrays
Ghovanloo, Neural Eng. 2003
e
Interestim-3a
Donoghue, Nature Neuroscience 2002
a, b: Utah silicon microelectrode 3D array
c: Polyimide electrode fabricated at U. Michigan
d: Michigan 3D silicon microelectrode array
e: Michigan 2D & 3D array with stimulation circuitry
© 2015 Maysam Ghovanloo
Ghovanloo, MMB 2005
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A Distributed Network of Wireless 3-D
Implants for the Central Nervous System
"The blind see,
the lame walk...
the deaf hear."
© 2015 Maysam Ghovanloo
Ghovanloo, JSSC 2004
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Wireless Implantable Neural Recording
The wires that transfer
brain signals to computers
for signal processing can
be replaced with a wireless
neural signal recording
system.
In animal experiments:
1- Improve SNR
2- Eliminate tethering
effect, which biases the
animal behavior.
In human applications:
1- Reduce risk of infection
2- Improve comfort level
MIT Technology Review May 2003
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Brain Machine Interfacing (BMI)
Nicolelis Lab. at Duke
Controlling the robotic arm by recording and processing the brain signals 
Control of prosthetic limbs by quadriplegics.
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Direct 3-D Control of a Robotic Arm with Brain
Signals (Braingate-2)
Brown University
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Major Topics to be Covered
 MEMS-based Recording Microelectrodes
 Design, Materials, Modeling, Site Impedance, Noise
 Biomedical Circuits
 Bioamplifiers, Spike Detectors, Stimulators, etc.
 Power and Data Telemetry
 Active, Passive, Implantable, Backpack
 Wireless Neural Recording Microsystems
 Wireless Neural Stimulation Microsystems
 Implantable Microsensors (Glucose, Blood pressure)
 Implantable Drug Delivery System
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Course Objectives
 Understand state-of-the-art neural interfaces through the
literature
 Present an application-driven, system-level overview of
MEMS sensors and CMOS circuits for neural engineering
 Understand the major challenges in designing highperformance implantable circuits and microsystems
 Encourage you to think about developing new implantable
technologies for a variety of diseases and disabilities
 Bridge the gap between Electrical Engineering and
Implantable Microelectronic Devices
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Implantable Temperature Sensor
(Example)
• Implantable device/sensor
• External handheld device for
data storage (PDA)
• Physician monitoring and data
review station (PC)
Advanced Bionics Inc.
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Implantable Temperature Sensor
(Example)
? Hardwired vs. Wireless
? Power consumption
? Size
? Location
? Packaging
? Battery-powered vs. Inductively powered
? Sampling rate
? Bidirectional vs. Unidirectional wireless link
? Safety issues
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