Redundant Crossfire Circuit for Precise Neurostimulation Currents
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current neuromodulation devices face challenges in accurately sensing and recording neural signals due to high noise levels, signal decay over time, and the inability to resolve individual nerve fiber activities, which limits their effectiveness in therapeutic applications.
Innovation Solution
A neurostimulator system with a redundant crossfire circuit that exploits random transistor mismatch to achieve super-resolution signal accuracy, combining the outputs of multiple current drivers to form a redundant structure that suppresses residual charge and noise artifacts, allowing for precise matching of stimulation currents and enhancing signal detection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional current drivers are used in neurostimulation devices, then device complexity is reduced, but signal accuracy and resolution are insufficient due to mismatch errors and noise artifacts
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple current drivers are merged into a single redundant crossfire circuit structure, where their outputs are combined to produce a unified stimulation signal. This merging allows the system to achieve higher accuracy through redundancy while managing complexity through integrated circuit design.
Solution Approach 2:
The current driver function is segmented into multiple independent driver circuits, each capable of producing stimulation signals. By dividing the overall function into separate segments that can be cross-fired, the system achieves improved signal accuracy through redundancy and mismatch error exploitation.
2Measurement precision
If transistor mismatch is minimized through conventional design, then manufacturing precision is improved, but the system cannot achieve super-resolution signal accuracy
Solution Approach 1:
The system converts the harmful effect of transistor mismatch errors into a beneficial feature by deliberately exploiting the random mismatch between parallel current drivers. The mismatch is used to generate diverse signal variations that, when combined through the redundant crossfire circuit, produce super-resolution signal accuracy beyond what would be achievable with perfectly matched transistors.
3Reliability
If multiple current drivers are combined to reduce noise artifacts, then signal quality is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The redundant crossfire circuit structure serves multiple functions simultaneously: it combines multiple current drivers to reduce noise artifacts, exploits transistor mismatch for super-resolution accuracy, and provides a unified interface for stimulation output. This multi-functionality allows the system to achieve improved signal quality without proportionally increasing overall device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A neurostimulator incorporating a novel chip design that uses the principle of redundant signal crossfiring to overcome electronic component mismatch error in general and transistor mismatch error in particular, to yield superior quality neurostimulation signal generation, useful in enhancing the bidirectional human-machine interface in prosthesis operation for the restoration of somatosensation for an amputee.