An ASIC-based Ultrasonic Beacon Sensor Platform with Energy Self-Sustaining Communication for Medical Implants

For long-term and small-sized medical implants, the use of internal batteries is prohibitive due to the size and the limited life time. Inductive power and data transmission usually requires bulky antennas and emits high-frequency electromagnetic interference (EMI). These disadvantages can be overcome by using ultrasound for power transfer and communication. This paper presents an ASIC for an implantable, wireless, ultrasound-based sensor platform. It provides an overview of the power transmission concept, presents the communication protocol and discusses the different building blocks of the ASIC. The presented ultrasound-based sensor platform concept enables a variety of different sensor applications in the future, due to its low power consumption, its flexibility and its self-sufficiency.