Design of Dual-Configuration Dual-Mode Stimulator in Low-Voltage CMOS Process for Neuro-Modulation

Chia Chi Hsieh, Yi Hui Wu, Ming Dou Ker*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

A dual-configuration dual-mode stimulator for neuro-modulation is proposed and designed. All the electrical stimulation patterns that frequently used for neuro-modulation can be generated by the proposed stimulator chip. Dual-configuration represents the bipolar or monopolar structure, meanwhile dual-mode stands for the current or voltage output. No matter what stimulation circumstance is chosen, biphasic or monophasic waveforms can be fully supported by the proposed stimulator chip. The stimulator chip with 4 stimulation channels has been fabricated in 0.18-μm 1.8-V/3.3-V low-voltage CMOS process with common grounded p-type substrate, which is suitable for SoC integration. The design has conquered the overstress and reliability issues in the low-voltage transistors under the negative voltage power domain. Each channel in the stimulator chip only occupies the silicon area of 0.052 mm2, and the maximum output level of stimulus amplitude is up to ±3.6 mA and ±3.6 V. With the built-in discharge function, bio-safety concern of unbalanced charge in neuro-stimulation can be dealt with properly. Moreover, the proposed stimulator chip has been applied on both imitation measurement and in-vivo animal test successfully.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)273-285
Number of pages13
JournalIEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems
Volume17
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Apr 2023

Keywords

  • Neuro-modulation
  • biphasic stimulation
  • bipolar stimulator
  • charge balance
  • current stimulation
  • in-vivo animal test
  • monopolar stimulator
  • voltage stimulation

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