Miniaturized Fully-Passive Wireless Neural Recording with Heterogeneous
Integration in Thin Packages
Abstract
Wireless fully-passive neural recording systems are demonstrated with
heterogeneous integration of sensing, mixing and communication
components in flexible polymer dielectric films. The recording
neurosensor has an antenna, antiparallel diode, and a by-pass capacitor
to modulate an incoming carrier signal with the neuropotentials and
backscatter the mixed signal to an external reader circuit. Planar
antennas are realized on Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP) flexible
substrates with low dielectric constant. The designed antenna topology
is realized with a single metal layer and eliminates the dependency on
substrate thickness and leads to thinner sensors. This is a major
advance compared to prior passive neural recording with rigid and
thicker substrates and components. Approximately 80% thickness
reduction and 20% volume reduction are achieved with similar
performance compared to earlier studies. Our approach thus leads to
low-cost and disposable wireless neurosensors on a flexible platform
with heterogenous integration.