An Implantable Wireless Neural Interface System for Simultaneous Recording and Stimulation of Peripheral Nerve with a Single Cuff Electrode

TLDR

Implantable neural prostheses are increasingly common, yet they suffer from inefficient wireless power, limited communication range, high power consumption, and single‑functionality (recording or stimulation only). The study proposes a novel implantable wireless neural interface that simultaneously records and stimulates neural signals using a single cuff electrode. The system uses commercial off‑the‑shelf components in a compact module, incorporating a WPC‑compliant power circuit, a MICS‑band radio link, and a cuff‑electrode path controller to enable simultaneous recording and stimulation. In vivo rabbit experiments demonstrated successful simultaneous recording and stimulation of tibial and peroneal nerves while maintaining communication with an external device, and the design can be adapted for closed‑loop neural prostheses.

Abstract

Recently, implantable devices have become widely used in neural prostheses because they eliminate endemic drawbacks of conventional percutaneous neural interface systems. However, there are still several issues to be considered: low-efficiency wireless power transmission; wireless data communication over restricted operating distance with high power consumption; and limited functionality, working either as a neural signal recorder or as a stimulator. To overcome these issues, we suggest a novel implantable wireless neural interface system for simultaneous neural signal recording and stimulation using a single cuff electrode. By using widely available commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components, an easily reconfigurable implantable wireless neural interface system was implemented into one compact module. The implantable device includes a wireless power consortium (WPC)-compliant power transmission circuit, a medical implant communication service (MICS)-band-based radio link and a cuff-electrode path controller for simultaneous neural signal recording and stimulation. During in vivo experiments with rabbit models, the implantable device successfully recorded and stimulated the tibial and peroneal nerves while communicating with the external device. The proposed system can be modified for various implantable medical devices, especially such as closed-loop control based implantable neural prostheses requiring neural signal recording and stimulation at the same time.