pMUT-based Real-Time (RT) Acoustic Discovery Architecture (ADA) for Intrabody Networks (IN)

This paper reports on the first Acoustic Discovery Architecture (ADA) for Intrabody Networks (IN) [1]. The main objective of ADA is to discover, in Real-Time (RT), all the implanted medical devices (IMDs) [2] that are part of an IN. This permits non-invasive RT diagnosis for patients with multiple IMDs. ADA will allow medical doctors (MDs) to have vital information, on-the-go, for treating patients and constantly monitoring them [3]. The architecture was implemented in a network simulator to emulate a real life IN, based on experimental results. ADA is in charge of scanning a body volume by exploiting the beam-forming and beam-steering capability of Piezoelectric Micro-Machined Ultrasonic Transducers (pMUTs) arrays [4] and efficiently interrogating all the reached devices for their status. As a result, a full IN map can be reconstructed together with all the vital signs of a patient. ADA shows very good RT capabilities, with a full scanning time from 1500msec down to 100msec and energy consumption from 2.6mJ down to 0.2mJ, depending on the scanning accuracy, for a body torso volume of 60×30×20cm³.