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Review
. 2016 Mar 18;16(3):393.
doi: 10.3390/s16030393.

Adaptive Transcutaneous Power Transfer to Implantable Devices: A State of the Art Review

Kara N Bocan  1 , Ervin Sejdić  2
Affiliations
Free PMC article
Review

Adaptive Transcutaneous Power Transfer to Implantable Devices: A State of the Art Review

Kara N Bocan et al. Sensors (Basel). .
Free PMC article

Abstract

Wireless energy transfer is a broad research area that has recently become applicable to implantable medical devices. Wireless powering of and communication with implanted devices is possible through wireless transcutaneous energy transfer. However, designing wireless transcutaneous systems is complicated due to the variability of the environment. The focus of this review is on strategies to sense and adapt to environmental variations in wireless transcutaneous systems. Adaptive systems provide the ability to maintain performance in the face of both unpredictability (variation from expected parameters) and variability (changes over time). Current strategies in adaptive (or tunable) systems include sensing relevant metrics to evaluate the function of the system in its environment and adjusting control parameters according to sensed values through the use of tunable components. Some challenges of applying adaptive designs to implantable devices are challenges common to all implantable devices, including size and power reduction on the implant, efficiency of power transfer and safety related to energy absorption in tissue. Challenges specifically associated with adaptation include choosing relevant and accessible parameters to sense and adjust, minimizing the tuning time and complexity of control, utilizing feedback from the implanted device and coordinating adaptation at the transmitter and receiver.

Keywords: adaptive; implantable medical devices; transcutaneous energy transfer; tuning; wireless power transfer.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Range of power requirements of example implantable medical devices.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Simplified general wireless transcutaneous system architecture.
Figure 3
Figure 3
General process steps in designing an adaptive system.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Existing approaches to adaptive transcutaneous system design.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Illustrated relationship between impedance (Z) matching and frequency (f) tuning.
Figure 6
Figure 6
A graphical summary of tuning methods in the literature.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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