Wireline communication over an implantable lead

This paper proposes high speed wireline communication over FDA-cleared implantable leads and connectors. It presents the electrical characterization of a clinically-used implantable extension lead, and discusses issues related to utilizing this type of interconnect for high-speed communication. S-parameters and TDR measurements are presented for a complete wireline link constructed with commercial-off-the-shelf FPGA boards, which achieves low BER communication at 200 Mbps with LVCMOS and LVDS signaling. The study highlights new avenues of research in circuits and systems for next generation prosthetics, neuromodulation, and large scale neural interfacing.