Computerized transcutaneous control of a multichannel implantable urinary prosthesis

A personal computer interface of a multichannel implantable urinary prosthesis is described. This system is composed of two main parts: the first one is internal and consists of an implant using a 4- mu m CMOS gate array chip controlling a wide variety of waveforms via eight monopolar channels; the second is an external controller featuring a versatile software, a PCB card plugged in a portable microcomputer, and a radiofrequency-coupled technique. This device is used to transmit the power, the data, and the synchronization clock to the implant by a simple binary signal modulating a 20-MHz carrier. The features of implant encapsulation and electrode design and fabrication are also reported.<
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