MINIATURIZED ELECTRONIC DEVICE INGESTIBLE BY A SUBJECT OR IMPLANTABLE INSIDE A BODY OF THE SUBJECT

• US 20120008714A1
• Filed: 03/18/2010
• Published: 01/12/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/19/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: University of Florida Research Foundation, Incorporated (State University System of Florida)
• Original Assignee: University of Florida Research Foundation, Incorporated (State University System of Florida)
• Inventors: Rizwan, Bashirullah
• Granted Patent: US 9,161,693 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 375/295
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0219 of externally powered implanted units
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0028 Body tissue as transmission medium, i.e. transmission systems where the medium is the human body
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0031 Implanted circuitry

Abstract

A miniaturized in-body electronic device is provided. One or more antennas (e.g., 32) may be galvanically coupled to receive an alternating current (AC) signal through the body of a subject where the in-body electronic device is located. Power extraction circuitry (e.g., 36) is configured to extract electrical power from the AC signal received by the antenna. The extracted electrical power is used for electrically powering one or more components of the electronic device. A transmitter (e.g., 48) is coupled to receive power from the power extraction circuitry. A controller (e.g., 46) is coupled to the transmitter. The controller is configured to activate the transmitter to generate a sequence of intermittent transmission bursts for transmitting an uplink signal. A transmission burst may have a higher instantaneous power level than an instantaneous power level of the AC signal received by the antenna.

Claims

1. A miniaturized in-body electronic device comprising:

at least one antenna galvanically coupled to receive an AC signal through the body of a subject where the in-body electronic device is located;

power extraction circuitry configured to extract electrical power at least from the AC signal received by the antenna, the extracted electrical power being accumulated over a charging cycle;

a transmitter coupled to receive power from the power extraction circuitry; and

a controller coupled to the transmitter, wherein the controller is configured to activate the transmitter to generate a sequence of intermittent transmission bursts for transmitting an uplink signal, wherein a transmission burst comprises a power level consistent with the amount of electrical power being accumulated over the charging cycle.

2. The in-body electronic device of claim 1, wherein the power extraction circuitry comprises an AC-to-DC converter and an energy storage device coupled to receive a DC signal from the AC-to-DC converter.

3. The in-body electronic device of claim 1, wherein the power extraction circuitry comprises an energy storage device directly coupled to said at least one antenna without an AC-to-DC converter.

4. The in-body electronic device of claim 2, wherein the power extraction circuitry further comprises an electrochemical source in combination with the AC-to-DC converter.

5. The in-body electronic device of claim 1, wherein the power extraction circuitry is adapted to extract electrical energy from in-body electrochemical gradients.

6. The in-body electronic device of claim 2, wherein the power extraction circuitry further comprises a power level detector coupled to the energy storage device, the power level detector coupled to provide a signal to the controller indicative of an electrical charge status of the energy storage device.

7. The in-body electronic device of claim 6, wherein the transmission burst occurs during a period of time when the charge status of the energy storage device meets or exceeds a charge threshold value.

8. The in-body electronic device of claim 1, wherein the AC signal received by said at least one antenna comprises a downlink signal including command data for the device.

9. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein a transmission of the uplink signal occurs contemporaneously with a reception of the AC signal used to extract electrical energy.

10. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein a transmission of the uplink signal is temporally spaced relative to a time of reception of the AC signal used to extract electrical energy.

11. The electronic device of claim 1 further comprising at least a second antenna coupled to the transmitter to transmit the uplink signal.

12. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the downlink signal comprises a first frequency, the uplink signal comprises a second frequency, and wherein the value of the second frequency is higher than the value of the first frequency.

13. The in-body electronic device of claim 1, wherein said device comprises a semiconductor chip and said at least one antenna is embedded in the chip.

14. The in-body electronic device of claim 1, wherein the power level of the burst is higher than power instantaneously available from said at least one antenna.

15. A miniaturized in-body electronic device comprising:

at least one antenna galvanically coupled to receive an AC signal through the body of a subject; and

AC logic circuitry responsive to a variable supply voltage resulting from the AC signal received by the antenna, the AC logic circuitry comprising a first circuit path responsive to a voltage difference during a positive voltage excursion of the variable supply voltage, the AC logic circuitry further comprising a second circuit path responsive to a voltage difference during a negative voltage excursion of the variable supply voltage;

a memory coupled to the AC logic circuitry, wherein the AC logic circuitry is configured to extract data from the memory;

ring oscillator circuitry energized by the variable supply voltage resulting from the AC signal received by the antenna, the ring oscillator circuitry configured to transmit a sequence of transmission bursts corresponding to respective binary states of the data extracted from the memory, the oscillator circuitry including a bias circuit to adjust an oscillator frequency, wherein a transmission burst is generated when each respective voltage difference has a value that meets or exceeds a threshold value.

16. The in-body electronic device of claim 15, wherein said device comprises a semiconductor chip and said at least one antenna is embedded in the chip.

17. The in-body electronic device of claim 15, wherein a value of a burst frequency is at least one hundred times larger relative to a value of a frequency of the received AC signal.