Circuit-Level Modeling and Simulation of Wireless Sensing and Energy Harvesting With Hybrid Magnetoelectric Antennas for Implantable Neural Devices

Abstract

A magnetoelectric antenna (ME) can exhibit the dual capabilities of wireless energy harvesting and sensing at different frequencies. In this article, a behavioral circuit model for hybrid ME antennas is described to emulate the radio frequency (RF) energy harvesting and sensing operations during circuit simulations. The ME antenna of this work is interfaced with a CMOS energy harvester chip towards the goal of developing a wireless communication link for fully integrated implantable devices. One role of the integrated system is to receive pulsemodulated power from a nearby transmitter, and another role is to sense and transmit low-magnitude neural signals.The measurements reported in this paper are the first results that demonstrate simultaneous low-frequency wireless magnetic sensing and high-frequency wireless energy harvesting at two different frequencies with one dual-mode ME antenna. The proposed behavioral ME antenna model can be utilized during design optimizations of energy harvesting circuits. Measurements were performed to validate the wireless power transfer link with an ME antenna having a 2.57 GHz resonance frequency connected to an energy harvester chip designed in 65nm CMOS technology. Furthermore, this dual-mode ME antenna enables concurrent sensing using a carrier signal with a frequency that matches the second 63.63 MHz resonance mode. A wireless test platform has been developed for evaluation of ME antennas as a tool for neural implant design, and this prototype system was utilized to provide first experimental results with the transmission of magnetically modulated action potential waveforms. W

Magnetic Micro and Nano Sensors for Continuous Health Monitoring

“…Apu et al described the potential use of magneto-electric nanoparticles in drug delivery, bio-imaging, neural stimulation and other biomedical applications [177]. Combining energy harvesting and sensing with a magneto-electric antenna, Das et al modeled such a hybrid antenna as a potential neural implant [178].…”

Array Study of VLF Thin-Film Magnetoelectric Antenna with a Microbridge Structure

“…Since the theory of ME antennas was proposed by Yao et al [ 2 ] in 2015, numerous studies have been conducted in this field, leading to substantial progress [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ]. Currently, a single ME antenna operating in the VLF band has achieved communication distances of up to 120 m [ 9 ].…”