Implantable Ultrasonic Receiver With Dynamic Threshold
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Solution Overview
Problem
Implantable medical devices face limitations in battery power, hindering their ability to transmit, receive, or process ultrasonic signals for intra-body communication, necessitating a system that can effectively receive and process low-power ultrasonic signals with minimal noise and power consumption.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising an ultrasonic transducer and receiver that converts ultrasonic amplitude-modulated signals into electrical signals, using a local oscillator, mixer, filter, and detector to generate a digital output, with dynamic sensitivity adjustment and automatic gain control to enhance signal reception and reduce noise, specifically designed for implantable medical devices with limited battery life.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If implantable devices use wireless telemetry to communicate physiological data, then communication capability is improved, but battery power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces electromagnetic wireless communication with acoustic ultrasound-based communication. The implantable device uses an ultrasound transducer to modulate acoustic signals that propagate through body tissue, eliminating the need for RF electromagnetic transmission and reducing power consumption while maintaining communication capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses periodic ultrasound pulses for communication. The transmitter sends periodic acoustic signals that are modulated with data, and the receiver processes these periodic signals through correlation detection, enabling efficient low-power communication through time-structured signal transmission.
2Ease of operation
If the device transmits and processes ultrasonic signals with limited battery power, then intra-body communication is enabled, but signal reception quality deteriorates due to high noise levels
Solution Approach 1:
The receiver implements automatic gain control (AGC) that continuously monitors signal strength and adjusts amplification accordingly. This feedback mechanism ensures optimal signal levels are maintained throughout the reception process, compensating for varying transmission distances and tissue attenuation while minimizing noise amplification.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary signal processing including bandpass filtering to remove out-of-band noise before detection. The receiver also implements correlation detection using a stored template of the expected signal, which preliminarily enhances the desired signal while suppressing noise and interference before final detection.
3Measurement precision
If high gain amplification is used to enhance low-power ultrasonic signal reception, then signal detection sensitivity is improved, but noise levels increase
Solution Approach 1:
The receiver uses selective amplification through bandpass filtering that amplifies only the specific frequency band where the ultrasound signal is expected. This local quality approach applies high gain only to the relevant frequency range while leaving other frequencies unaffected, thus enhancing signal sensitivity without proportionally amplifying broadband noise.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts receiver parameters including gain settings and filtering characteristics based on detected signal conditions. The automatic gain control modifies amplification factors in real-time, and the system adapts its detection threshold and integration time constants to optimize the balance between sensitivity and noise rejection for varying signal strengths.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system enables efficient reception and processing of low-power ultrasonic signals, reducing noise and power consumption, thereby improving the diagnostic capabilities of implantable medical devices and facilitating wireless communication within the body.
Implementation Method 1
a first ultrasonic transducer configured to receive an intra-body ultrasonic amplitude-modulated (AM) signal provided by a second implantable ultrasonic transducer and convert the ultrasonic AM signal to a first electrical signal
Data Source
AI summary
An intra-body ultrasonic signal can be converted into a first electrical signal, a local oscillator signal can be generated in an implantable system. The first electrical signal and the local oscillator signal can be mixed in an implantable system, such as to generate a demodulated signal, processed, such as using a filter. The filtered, demodulated signal can be further processed, such as implantably determining a peak amplitude of the first portion of the demodulated signal received from the filter over a time interval, implantably generating a dynamic tracking threshold that starts at an amplitude proportional the first portion of the demodulated signal and exponentially decays over a time interval, and determining a noise floor in the absence of a received intra-body ultrasonic signal and implantably comparing the peak amplitude and the tracking threshold and generate the digital output based on the difference.