Wireless Integrated Circuit for 100-Channel Neural Stimulation

We present the design of an integrated circuit for wireless neural stimulation, along with bench-top and in-vivo experimental results. The chip has the ability to drive 100 individual stimulation electrodes with constant-current pulses of varying amplitude, duration, interphasic delay, and repetition rate. The stimulation is done using a biphasic (cathodic and anodic) current source, injecting and retracting charge from the nervous system. Wireless communication and power are achieved over a 2.765-MHz inductive link. Only two off-chip components are needed to operate the stimulator: a 10-nF capacitor to aid in power supply regulation and a coil for power and command reception. The chip was fabricated in a commercially available 0.6-mu m 2P3M BiCMOS process. The chip was able to activate motor fibers to produce muscle twitches via a Utah Slanted Electrode Array implanted in cat sciatic nerve, and to activate sensory fibers to recruit evoked potentials in somatosensory cortex.