The market demand for implantable biomedical systems continues to grow at a significant pace. Solving the technological hurdles of miniaturization, power supply and efficient interfaces between the implants and external devices is critical to the growth
of the market. This symposium will examine the latest advances in manufacturing, wireless charging and communications for implantable biomedical systems from both a theoretical and practical standpoint. Topics to be covered will include:
Final Agenda
Download Brochure | Speaker Bios
Thursday, December 7
8:00 am Registration and Morning Coffee
8:25 Chairperson’s Opening Remarks
Bill von Novak, Principal Engineer, Qualcomm
8:30 The Future of Brain Implants
Newton Howard, Ph.D., Professor of Neurocomputation & Neurosurgery, University of Oxford;
Director of Synthetic Intelligence Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Scientists across the globe have long dreamt of bringing artificial intelligence from theory to practice; this dream grows even closer as Dr. Howard and his team begin work on an exciting, new project in the field of neuroscience. Their ultimate aim is
to better the quality of life for those suffering from neurological disorders by bridging the gap between man and machine. In his talk, Dr. Howard will present on where artificial intelligence and brain machine interfaces could be over the next 10
years.
9:00 Part 1: Design of a Large-Scale Wireless Network of Brain Implants
Farah Laiwalla, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Research Associate, Brown University School of Engineering
In order to dramatically increase the scale of neural reading and stimulation, a wireless network of implantable silicon neural chiplets is proposed. Hardware-efficient circuits and robust communication protocols are derived to achieve efficient wireless
power transfer, RF telemetry and data networking in the cortical environment. Practical aspects of readying such system for animal/human clinical trials will be highlighted.
9:30 Part 2: Design of a Large-Scale Wireless Network of Brain Implants
Vincent Leung, Ph.D., Technical Director, Circuit Lab, University of California, San Diego
In order to dramatically increase the scale of neural reading and stimulation, a wireless network of implantable silicon neural chiplets is proposed. Hardware-efficient circuits and robust communication protocols are derived to achieve efficient wireless
power transfer, RF telemetry and data networking in the cortical environment. Practical aspects of readying such system for animal/human clinical trials will be highlighted.
10:00 Coffee Break in the Exhibit Hall with Poster Viewing
10:45 Ultra Low Power MICS Band Test Chip
Steve Shellhammer, Principal Engineer, Qualcomm
The Medical Implant Communication Systems (MICS) band is often used for wireless communication between medical implant devices and external interrogators. This presentation will describe a test chip developed at Qualcomm which operates on significantly
lower power than commercially available MICS-band chips. The presentation will give an overview of the test chip design and test results, as well as an overview of the wireless protocol design. It may also be possible to give a demonstration
at the conference.
11:15 Trends in Implantable Device Packaging for Wireless Transmission
Asheesh Divetia, General Manager, Cirtec Medical
As the demand grows for smaller and smaller device size, innovation in design, materials, and processing will dictate new techniques to surpass current limitations. Let’s explore how additive technologies, innovations in package design and
fabrication and advances in wireless communication and power transmission are shaping a new wave in implantable device design. Let’s look beyond the current barriers in radio transparency and power consumption to find new ways to achieve
a new patient experience.
11:45 Thermal Concepts for Implantables
Sean Andrews, Staff Engineer, Qualcomm
12:15 pm Luncheon Presentation (Sponsorship Opportunity Available) or Enjoy Lunch on Your Own
1:40 Chairperson’s Remarks
Bill von Novak, Principal Engineer, Qualcomm
1:45 Modeling and Simulation Based Recharge Optimization for Implanted Medical Devices
Venkat Gaddam, Principal Electric Engineer, Medtronic
We describe a system level modeling approach for optimizing the rate of inductive power transfer to an implant while ensuring that thermal exposure levels for tissue remain safe. The Virtual Integrated Recharge system (VIRS) takes a multi-physics
approach to describe coupled behavior of the charging circuitry, electromagnetics and heat transfer. VIRS has been practically implemented as a design tool for commercial products in development.
2:15 A Noble Dual Link RF Energy Transfer and Data Backscattering for Brain Implantable Microsystems
Yoon-Kyu Song, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Nano Science and Technology, Graduate
School of Convergence Science and Technology, Seoul National University, Korea
Here we propose a wireless neural recording micro-implant for a minimally invasive brain-machine interface (BMI). We have demonstrated a prototype system based on midfield wireless energy and data transfer to extract emulated neural signals with
the head phantom, ensuring practical utility of the micro-implant as a fully-implantable brain machine interface.
2:45 Power Management for Medical Implants
Bill von Novak, Principal Engineer, Qualcomm
Medical implants require power to operate - from microwatts to watts in some cases. This power is provided by batteries or external wireless power sources, but managing this power can be difficult. This talk will discuss power management strategies/designs
for medical implants and give a few examples of such designs.
3:15 Networking Refreshment Break
4:00 Ultrasonic to RF to Infrared: Mode and Frequency Selection for User-Friendly Implantable Wireless Links
Stephen O’Driscoll, Ph.D., Staff Scientist and Engineering Manager, Verily
Implantable devices have varying size constraints and are placed at different depths and in multiple tissue types. The optimal methods for wireless power transfer to and communication with implanted devices can vary with those physical and anatomical
factors. This talk explores how to optimize mode and frequency across physical and anatomical constraints and how to factor in user experience to find effective solutions which will be used.
4:30 Wireless Power Delivery for Ventricular Assist Devices
David C. Yates, Research Fellow, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Imperial College London, United Kingdom
Wireless power transfer (WPT) can provide a practical solution to powering implantable ventricular assist devices without requiring a power cable that punctures the skin. While maximizing link efficiency is normally the design aim of a WPT system
in free space, there may be more suitable objectives if a receiver is implanted inside a patient, especially for devices with higher power consumption. This talk proposes alternative design principles to minimize the adverse effects of such
a WPT system on the human body.
5:00 End of Implantable Biomedical Systems
Download Brochure | Speaker Bios
