An Inductorless 40.5V High-Voltage Generator for Integrated Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulators

Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) requires voltages exceeding several tens of volts which are typically obtained by using DC-DC boost converters. However, these converters incorporate a large external inductor, which hinders integration and severely restricts the minimum size of the stimulator. This paper presents a charge pump (CP) high-voltage generator particularly designed for NMES applications. The proposed hybrid CP comprises a low-voltage latched CP followed by a high-voltage Dickson CP with boosted pumping clocks. This architecture generates an output voltage of 40.5 V from a 3.3 V supply, enabling the delivery of up to 30 mA stimulation pulses at a maximum frequency of 50 Hz. The circuit is designed in a 180 nm HV CMOS process and occupies a silicon area of 2.7 mm
²
. By eliminating the inductor and requiring only one external storage capacitor, this design has the potential of being used in compact stimulators for wearable medical applications.