A Programmable 6 bit DAC of current-steering dedicated to nerve stimulator

Abstract

In this article we present a programmable current source architecture based on nine bits to modulate the charge quantity injected in the cochlear nerve ending. Our architecture is designed from a portable system to cochlear implant. In fact, the proposed architecture must be flexible and allows a transparency via the stimulation algorithms in order to satisfy the different pathological cases. The architecture which based on thermometer digital to analog converter presents a good linearity. As well, it is capable to generate a maximum current about 1 mA through a 1 K [1, 2] load, which is around the typical nerve impedance. The DAC currents sources have been seized to minimize power consumption, to reduce silicon occupation and to offer a worse case error around 0.08LSB differential linearity error and 0.4LSB integral linearity. This device is designed with a 0.35μm CMOS technology.

Signal generation and regulation of implantable nerve stimulator

“…N Rekik [12] proposed a nerve stimulator based on the current output of a 6-bit DAC for cochlear implantation. The circuit structure is shown in Figure 1 3.2 DC conversion topological circuit DC converter circuit is a converter circuit that transforms the fixed amplitude of DC voltage into variable amplitude and polarity of DC voltage.…”