Drive-Sense Circuit Merging for Simultaneous Sensing and Stimulation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current data communication systems, particularly in medical and therapeutic applications, face challenges in efficiently collecting and communicating sensed data using sensors and actuators, often requiring separate lines for driving and sensing, which increases power consumption and complexity.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of drive-sense circuits that can simultaneously drive and sense signals via a single line, reducing power requirements and line interference, and enabling concurrent sensing and stimulation across bodily portions, such as in pacemaker leads for cardiac applications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If separate lines are used for driving and sensing, then reliability is improved, but device complexity and power consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines driving and sensing functions into a single communication line between the implantable medical device and the external device. This merging eliminates the need for separate dedicated lines for each function, reducing hardware complexity while maintaining reliable bidirectional communication through time-division multiplexing or full-duplex techniques.
Solution Approach 2:
The single communication line serves multiple functions including data transmission, sensing signal delivery, and power delivery. This multi-functional approach allows the same physical medium to handle various communication tasks, reducing the overall number of components and lines required in the system.
2Measurement precision
If separate lines are used for driving and sensing, then measurement precision is improved, but use of energy increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges driving and sensing operations onto a single communication line, eliminating the power consumption associated with maintaining separate physical connections. The system achieves this by using time-division multiplexing or full-duplex communication techniques that allow bidirectional signal transmission over the same medium without requiring additional power-intensive hardware.
3Productivity
If simultaneous sensing and stimulation are performed, then productivity is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs periodic time-division multiplexing where sensing and stimulation operations are performed in alternating time slots over the same communication line. During designated sensing intervals, the line carries sensing signals, while during stimulation intervals, it delivers therapeutic signals. This periodic alternation enables simultaneous functionality without requiring complex parallel hardware paths.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically switches the function of the communication line between sensing and stimulation modes based on operational requirements. This dynamic reconfiguration allows the same hardware to adapt its behavior in real-time, enabling concurrent sensing and stimulation capabilities without the need for fixed, dedicated circuit paths for each function.
Data Source
AI summary
An electrical stimulation system includes a sheath that includes conductive points that are operative to facilitate electrical stimulation to a bodily portion of a user. Drive-sense circuits (DSCs) generate electrical stimulation signals based on reference signals and provide those electrical stimulation signals via electrodes to the conductive points of the sheath. The electrical stimulation signal is coupled into respective locations of the bodily portion of the user that are in proximity to or in contact with the conductive points of the sheath. In addition, the DSCs sense, via the conductive points of the sheath and via the electrodes, changes of the electrical stimulation signals based on coupling of them into the respective locations of the bodily portion of the user. The DSCs provide digital signals that are representative of the changes of the electrical stimulation signals to one or more processing modules that includes and/or is coupled to memory.