Wireless implantable microsystems: coming breakthroughs in health care

This paper reviews recent progress in implantable microsystems. Electrode arrays of up to 1024 sites now allow direct interfacing with the central nervous system, monitoring neural activity and delivering both electrical and chemical stimulation. Operating at milliwatt levels with site spacings of 100-400 /spl mu/m and communicating wirelessly at up to 100 kb/s, these arrays form a microelectronic bridge to the cellular world. Combined with embedded processors and wafer-level packaging, these microsystems promise exciting advances in dealing with a variety of neurological disorders during the coming decade.