Implementation of wireless power transfer and communications for an implantable ocular drug delivery system

Abstract

A wireless power transfer and communication system based on near-field inductive coupling has been designed and implemented. The feasibility of using such a system to remotely control drug release from an implantable drug delivery system is addressed. The architecture of the wireless system is described and the signal attenuation over distance in both water and phosphate buffered saline is studied. Additionally, the health risk due to exposure to radio frequency (RF) radiation is examined using a biological model. The experimental results demonstrate that the system can trigger the release of drug within 5 s, and that such short exposure to RF radiation does not produce any significant (<or= 1 degrees C) heating in the biological model. The conclusion of the work is that this system could replace a chemical battery in an implantable system, eliminating the risks associated with battery failure and leakage and also allowing more compact designs for applications such as drug delivery.

A MEMS electrochemical bellows actuator for fluid metering applications

“…Over the last two decades, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) micropumps have been developed for broad biomedical and biological applications (Laser and Santiago 2004). A subset of these pumps address requirements for implantable drug delivery systems including biocompatibility, reliable operation (precise and accurate flow control), low power consumption, low heat generation, large driving force, and compatibility with a large variety of new and conventional drugs (Geipel, Goldschmidtb et al 2008; Tang, Smith et al 2008; Amirouche, Yu et al 2009). However, the emphasis has been on continuous pumping.…”

Micro-fabricated perforated polymer devices for long-term drug delivery

“…The feasibility of integration of such devices with microelectronics, biosensors and wireless control have demonstrated excellent potentials to bring the drug delivery to a whole new level of applications (Santini et al 2000;Tang et al 2008). …”

Approaches and Challenges of Engineering Implantable Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) Drug Delivery Systems for in Vitro and in Vivo Applications

“…Inherently, due to the small size of these implantable BioMEMS, powering the device for a long time is an issue [41]. However, several methods have been investigated to overcome this issue: (i) the adoption of low power actuation mechanisms [33] and/or (ii) increasing the battery life of the device by enabling the internal batteries to be recharged [42][43][44] or using wireless power [35,45].…”