WIRELESS POWERING AND TELEMETRY FOR FLEXIBLE BIOELECTRONIC IMPLANTS

Abstract

Flexible bioelectronic implants show excellent promise to conform and integrate into the biological milieu, and thereby offer opportunities for reliable chronic solutions to many neural disorders through electrophysiological modulation. With advances in integrated device technologies and flex electronics, a critical need for an efficient wireless scheme that can endure flexion arises. This dissertation presents the development of capacitively-coupled wireless technology for powering and telemetry with in vivo flexible electronic devices. A theoretical framework that formulates and establishes link efficiency and safe power transfer limits via modeling the electromagnetic wave interactions with biological tissue is provided. We demonstrate applications of these systems to drive and control in vivo functional electronic implants in animal models. This work enables the capability to power and communicate with a new generation of flex wireless bioelectronics for monitoring and modulating physiological functions.