Design and optimization of printed spiral coils in wireless power transfer for biomedical implants

Abstract

Biomedical implants are highly desired by the medical community. Their applications are ranging from monitoring, diagnosis and therapeutic interventions. The functionality and the performance of biomedical implants are largely constrained by their power consumption. Delivering enough electrical power to implants wirelessly is one of the critical challenges that implant developers are facing nowadays. The wireless power transfer (WPT) using rotating magnets has demonstrate its capability to supply a large amount of electrical power to implants. The printed spiral coils (PSC) have the advantage of the batch-fabrication over the coils that are made of filaments. Previous design principles of filament coils are not sufficient to optimize all aspects of PSC due to the technology constraints. In this project, we develop a comprehensive theories on design and optimization of PSC to achieve maximum power delivery efficiency at a given size. Several PSC are fabricated using commercially-availabe printed circuit board technology. The measurement results validates the developed theories.