Efficiency analysis and optimization of wireless power transfer system for freely moving biomedical implants

In the wireless power transfer system for freely moving biomedical implants,the receiving unit was generally inefficient for the reason that its design parameters including the receiving coil's dimension and receiving circuits' topology were always determined by experiments.In order to build the relationship between these parameters and the total transfer efficiency,this paper developed a novel efficiency model based on the impedance model of the coil and the circuit model of the receiving circuits.According to the design constraints,the optimal design parameters in the worst case were derived.The results indicate that the combination of the two-layered receiving coil and half-bridge rectifier has more advantages in size,efficiency and safety,which is preferred in the receiving unit.Additionally,when the load resistance increases,the optimal turn number of the receiving coil basically keeps constant and the corresponding transmitting current and total efficiency decrease.For 100 Ω load,the transmitting current and total efficiency in the worst case were measured to be 5.30 A and 1.45% respectively,which are much better than the published results.In general,our work provides an efficient method to determine the design parameters of the wireless power transfer system for freely moving biomedical implants.

Surface modification of titanium using steel slag ball and shot blasting treatment for biomedical implant applications

Surface modification is often performed using grit or shot blasting treatment for improving the performances of biomedical implants. The effects of blasting treatments using steel slag balls and spherical shots on the surface and subsurface of titanium were studied in this paper. The treatments were conducted for 60-300 s using 2-5 mm steel slag bails and 3.18 mm spherical shots. The surface morphology, roughness, and elemental composition of titanium specimens were examined prior to and after the treatments. Irregular and rough titanium surfaces were formed after the treatment with the steel slag balls instead of the spherical shots. The former treatment also introduced some bioactive elements on the titanium surface, but the latter one yielded a harder surface layer. In conclusion, both steel slag ball and shot blasting treatment have their own specialization in modifying the surface of metallic biomaterials. Steel slag ball blasting is potential for improving the osseointegration quality of implants; but the shot blasting is more appropriate for improving the mechanical properties of temporary and load bearing implants, such as osteosynthesis plates.

Synthesis and characterization of Ti-Co alloy foam for biomedical applications

Highly porous Ti-Co alloy specimens for biomedical applications were synthesized by powder metallurgy based space holder technique. Ti alloys have high melting temperature and affinity for oxygen, which makes Ti alloys difficult to be processed. The Co addition reduces the melting temperature and Ti-Co alloy was sintered at lower temperatures. The electrochemical corrosion behaviour of the specimens was examined in the artificial saliva solution. The effects of Co content of the alloy, the p H value and fluoride concentration of the artificial saliva solution on the electrochemical corrosion properties of the specimens were investigated. The microstructure and mechanical properties of the specimens were examined. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy results indicate that the corrosion resistance of the specimens decreases at high fluoride concentrations and low p H value. The defect density increases with increasing the fluoride concentration and decreasing the p H value of artificial saliva according to Mott-Schottky analysis.

Antibacterial mechanism with consequent cytotoxicity of different reinforcements in biodegradable magnesium and zinc alloys: A review

Benefits achieved by the biodegradable magnesium(Mg) and zinc(Zn) implants could be suppressed due to the invasion of infectious microbial, common bacteria, and fungi. Postoperative medications and the antibacterial properties of pure Mg and Zn are insufficient against biofilm and antibiotic-resistant bacteria, bringing osteomyelitis, necrosis, and even death. This study evaluates the antibacterial performance of biodegradable Mg and Zn alloys of different reinforcements, including silver(Ag), copper(Cu), lithium(Li), and gallium(Ga). Copper ions(Cu^(2+)) can eradicate biofilms and antibiotic-resistant bacteria by extracting electrons from the cellular structure. Silver ion(Ag^(+)) kills bacteria by creating bonds with the thiol group. Gallium ion(Ga^(3+)) inhibits ferric ion(Fe^(3+)) absorption, leading to nutrient deficiency and bacterial death. Nanoparticles and reactive oxygen species(ROS) can penetrate bacteria cell walls directly, develop bonds with receptors, and damage nucleotides. Antibacterial action depends on the alkali nature of metal ions and their degradation rate, which often causes cytotoxicity in living cells. Therefore, this review emphasizes the insight into degradation rate, antibacterial mechanism, and their consequent cytotoxicity and observes the correlation between antibacterial performance and oxidation number of metal ions.

Recent developments in functional organic polymer coatings for biomedical applications in implanted devices

Organic polymer coatings have been commonly used in biomedical field,which play an important role in achieving biological antifouling,drug delivery,and bacteriostasis.With the continuous development of polymer science,organic polymer coatings can be designed with complex and advanced functions,which is conducive to the construction of biomedical materials with different performances.According to different physical and chemical properties of materials,biomedical organic polymer coating materials are classified into zwitterionic polymers,non-ionic polymers,and biomacromolecules.The strategies of combining coatings with substrates include physical adsorption,chemical grafting,and self-adhesion.Though the coating materials and construction methods are different,many biomedical polymer coatings have been developed to achieve excellent performances,i.e.,enhanced lubrication,anti-inflammation,antifouling,antibacterial,drug release,anti-encrustation,anti-thrombosis,etc.Consequently,a large number of biomedical polymer coatings have been used in artificial lungs,ureteral stent,vascular flow diverter,and artificial joints.In this review,we summarize different types,properties,construction methods,biological functions,and clinical applications of biomedical organic polymer coatings,and prospect future direction for development of organic polymer coatings in biomedical field.It is anticipated that this review can be useful for the design and synthesis of functional organic polymer coatings with various biomedical purposes.

Recent progress in Mg-based alloys as a novel bioabsorbable biomaterials for orthopedic applications

Traditional orthopedic metal implants,such as titanium(Ti),Ti alloys,and cobalt-chromium(Co-Cr)alloys,cannot be degraded in vivo.Fracture patients is must always suffer a second operation to remove the implants.Moreover,stress shielding,or stress protection occurs when traditional orthopedic metal implants are applied in fractures surgery.The mechanical shunt produced by traditional orthopedic metal implants can cause bone loss over time,resulting in decreased bone strength and delayed fracture healing.Biodegradable metals that‘biocorrode’are currently attracting significant interest in the orthopedics field due to their suitability as temporary implants.As one of the biodegradable metals,magnesium(Mg)and Mg alloys have gained interest in the field of medicine due to their low density,excellent biocompatibility,high bioresorbability,and proper mechanical properties.Additionally,Mg ions released from the metal implants can promote osteogenesis and angiogenesis during the degradation process in vivo,which is substantially better for orthopedic fixation than other bioinert metal materials.Therefore,this review focuses on the properties,fabrication,biological functions,and surface modification of Mg-based alloys as novel bioabsorbable biomaterials for orthopedic applications.

Magnesium based surface metal matrix composites by friction stir processing

Surface metal matrix composites(MMCs)are a group of modern engineered materials where the surface of the material is modified by dispersing secondary phase in the form of particles or fibers and the core of the material experience no change in chemical composition and structure.The potential applications of the surface MMCs can be found in automotive,aerospace,biomedical and power industries.Recently,friction stir processing(FSP)technique has been gaining wide popularity in producing surface composites in solid state itself.Magnesium and its alloys being difficult to process metals also have been successfully processed by FSP to fabricate surface MMCs.The aim of the present paper is to provide a comprehensive summary of state-of-the-art in fabricating magnesium based composites by FSP.Influence of the secondary phase particles and grain refinement resulted from FSP on the properties of these composites is also discussed.

A wideband frequency-shift keying demodulator for wireless neural stimulation microsystems

This paper presents a wideband frequency-shift keying （FSK） demodulator suitable for a digital data transmission chain of wireless neural stimulation microsystems such as cochlear implants and retinal prostheses. The demodulator circuit derives a constant frequency clock directly from an FSK carrier, and uses this clock to sample the data bits. The circuit occupies 0.03 mm^2 using a 0.6 μm, 2M/2P, standard CMOS process, and consumes 0.25 mW at 5 V. This circuit was experimentally tested at transmission speed of up to 2.5 Mbps while receiving a 5-10 MHz FSK carrier signal in a cochlear implant system.

Optimization of Bio-Implantable Power Transmission Efficiency Based on Input Impedance

Recently,the inductive coupling link is the most robust method for powering implanted biomedical devices,such as micro-system stimulators,cochlear implants,and retinal implants.This research provides a novel theoretical and mathematical analysis to optimize the inductive coupling link efficiency driven by efficient proposed class-E power amplifiers using high and optimum input impedance.The design of the coupling link is based on two pairs of aligned,single-layer,planar spiral circular coils with a proposed geometric dimension,operating at a resonant frequency of 13.56 MHz.Both transmitter and receiver coils are small in size.Implanted device resistance varies from 200Ωto 500Ωwith 50Ωof stepes.When the conventional load resistance of power amplifiers is 50Ω,the efficiency is 45%;when the optimum resonant load is 41.89Ωwith a coupling coefficient of 0.087,the efficiency increases to 49%.The efficiency optimization is reached by calculating the matching network for the external LC tank of the transmitter coil.The proposed design may be suitable for active implantable devices.

CNFET-based voltage rectifier circuit for biomedical implantable applications

Carbon nanotube field effect transistor（CNFET） shows lower threshold voltage and smaller leakage current in comparison to its CMOS counterpart. In this paper, two kinds of CNFET-based rectifiers, full-wave rectifiers and voltage doubler rectifiers are presented for biomedical implantable applications. Based on the standard 32 nm CNFET model, the electrical performance of CNFET rectifiers is analyzed and compared. Simulation results show the voltage conversion efficiency（VCE） and power conversion efficiency（PCE） achieve 70.82% and 72.49% for CNFET full-wave rectifiers and 56.60% and 61.17% for CNFET voltage double rectifiers at typical 1.0 V input voltage excitation, which are higher than that of CMOS design. Moreover, considering the controllable property of CNFET threshold voltage, the effect of various design parameters on the electrical performance is investigated.It is observed that the VCE and PCE of CNFET rectifier increase with increasing CNT diameter and number of tubes. The proposed results would provide some guidelines for design and optimization of CNFET-based rectifier circuits.

Mo and Ta addition in NbTiZr medium entropy alloy to overcome tensile yield strength-ductility trade-off

In this study,single-phase NbTiZr and NbTiZr(MoTa)_(0.1) medium-entropy alloys(MEAs)were investigated for their use in biomedical implants.The alloys were prepared by arc melting,and were then cold-rolled,annealed,and characterized in terms of phase analysis,mechanical properties,fractography,and wear resistance.Both alloys showed a single body-centered cubic phase with superior mechanical,and tribological properties compared to commercially available biomedical alloys.Mo and Ta-containing MEAs showed higher tensile yield strength(1060±18 MPa)and higher tensile ductility(~20%),thus overcoming the strength-ductility trade-off with no signs of transformation-induced plasticity,twinning,or precipitation.The generalized stacking fault energy(GSFE)calculations on the{112}<111>slip system by the first-principles calculations based on density functional theory showed that the addition of less than0.2 molar fraction of Mo and Ta lowers the GSFE curves.This behavior posits the increase in ductility of the alloy by facilitating slips although strength is also increased by solid solution strengthening.The wear resistance of both alloys against hardened steel surfaces was superior to that of commercial biomedical alloys.Thus,we concluded that NbTiZr(MoTa)_(0.1)MEA with good tensile ductility is a potential candidate for biomedical implants.

An implantable neurostimulator with an integrated high-voltage inductive powerrecovery frontend

This paper present a highly-integrated neurostimulator with an on-chip inductive power-recovery fron- tend and high-voltage stimulus generator. In particular, the power-recovery frontend includes a high-voltage full- wave rectifier （up to 100 V AC input）, high-voltage series regulators （24/5 V outputs） and a linear regulator （1.8/ 3.3 V output） with bandgap voltage reference. With the high voltage output of the series regulator, the proposed neurostimulator could deliver a considerably large current in high electrode-tissue contact impedance. This neu- rostimulator has been fabricated in a CSMC 1 μm 5/40/700 V BCD＇process and the total silicon area including pads is 5.8 mm2. Preliminary tests are successful as the neurostimulator shows good stability under a 13.56 MHz AC supply. Compared to previously reported works, our design has advantages of a wide induced voltage range （26-100 V）, high output voltage （up to 24 V） and high-level integration, which are suitable for implantable neu- rostimulators.

Wireless actuation of micromechanical resonators

The wireless transfer of power is of fundamental and technical interest,with applications ranging from the remote operation of consumer electronics and implanted biomedical devices and sensors to the actuation of devices for which hard-wired power sources are neither desirable nor practical.In particular,biomedical devices that are implanted in the body or brain require small-footprint power receiving elements for wireless charging,which can be accomplished by micromechanical resonators.Moreover,for fundamental experiments,the ultralow-power wireless operation of micromechanical resonators in the microwave range can enable the performance of low-temperature studies of mechanical systems in the quantum regime,where the heat carried by the electrical wires in standard actuation techniques is detrimental to maintaining the resonator in a quantum state.Here we demonstrate the successful actuation of micron-sized silicon-based piezoelectric resonators with resonance frequencies ranging from 36 to 120 MHz at power levels of nanowatts and distances of~3 feet,including comprehensive polarization,distance and power dependence measurements.Our unprecedented demonstration of the wireless actuation of micromechanical resonators via electric-field coupling down to nanowatt levels may enable a multitude of applications that require the wireless control of sensors and actuators based on micromechanical resonators,which was inaccessible until now.

CMOS implementation of a low-power BPSK demodulator for wireless implantable neural command transmission

A new BPSK demodulator was presented.By using a clock multiplier with very simple circuit structure to replace the analog multiplier in the traditional BPSK demodulator,the circuit structure of the demodulator became simpler and hence its power consumption became lower.Simpler structure and lower power will make the designed demodulator more suitable for use in an internal single chip design for a wireless implantable neural recording system.The proposed BPSK demodulator was implemented by Global Foundries 0.35μm CMOS technology with a 3.3 V power supply.The designed chip area is only 0.07 mm;and the power consumption is 0.5 mW.The test results show that it can work correctly.