Mbps experimental acoustic through-tissue communications: MEAT-COMMS

Singer, Andrew C.; Oelze, Michael L.; Podkowa, Anthony

doi:10.1109/spawc.2016.7536815

Cited by 27 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 12 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Omnidirectional transducers make the physical synchronization of a transmitter and receiver easier, whereas directional links increase the signal-to-noise ratio at the receiver, resulting in longer reachable ranges or higher data throughput support. Higher data rates can also be achieved with larger transducers, data transmission at 30 Mbps through pork meat samples is demonstrated in [28].…”

Section: B Acousticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

In-Body Communications Exploiting Light: A Proof-of-Concept Study Using Ex Vivo Tissue Samples

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article presents a feasibility study on the transmission of information through the biological tissues exploiting light. The experimental results demonstrating the potentials of optical wireless communications through biological tissues (OCBT) are presented. The main application of the proposed technology is in-body communications, where wireless connectivity needs to be provided to implanted electronic devices, such as pacemakers, cardiac defibrillators, and smart pills, for instance. Traditionally, in-body communications are performed using radio and acoustic waves. However, light has several fundamental advantages making the proposed technology highly attractive for this purpose. In particular, optical communications are highly secure, private, safe, and in many cases, extremely simple with the potential of low-power implementation. In the experiments, near-infrared light was used, as the light propagation in biotissues is more favorable in this part of the spectrum. The amount of light exposure given to biotissues was controlled to keep it within the safety limits. Information transmission experiments were carried out with the temperature-controlled ex vivo samples of porcine tissue. The tissue temperature was found to be significantly affecting the light propagation process. Communication performance with respect to the biotissue thickness and light direction was assessed. The results showed that optical channels to and from the possible implant are nearly reciprocal. Communication links were established to the deepness of more than four centimeters, and the data rates of up to 100 Kbps were obtained. The encouraging results of this study allow us to anticipate the potential applications of the proposed light-based technology to communicate with the various electronic devices implanted at different depths in the human body. INDEX TERMS Biological tissues, ex vivo, In-body communications, Implanted electronic devices Medical implants, Optical wireless communications, OCBT, Pacemaker.

show abstract

Section: B Acousticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

In-Body Communications Exploiting Light: A Proof-of-Concept Study Using Ex Vivo Tissue Samples

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Hence, acoustic waves are considered one of the possible transmission technologies of choice for in-body communications as they are recognized to enhance the data throughput in media mostly composed of water comparing to RF signals [ 91 ]. Furthermore, Federal Communication Commission (FCC) regulations has limited the maximum allowable bandwidth that can be used for RF electromagnetic wave propagation available to Implanted Medical Devices (IMD) [ 91 ]. This therefore has greatly limited the data throughput of such devices [ 91 ].…”

Section: Candidate Wireless Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, Federal Communication Commission (FCC) regulations has limited the maximum allowable bandwidth that can be used for RF electromagnetic wave propagation available to Implanted Medical Devices (IMD) [ 91 ]. This therefore has greatly limited the data throughput of such devices [ 91 ]. As an example, for frequency range of 401–406 MHz, the maximum allowable bandwidth that can be used is around 300 kHz which greatly limits the communication rates of such devices to a maximum of 50 kb/s [ 91 ].…”

Section: Candidate Wireless Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This therefore has greatly limited the data throughput of such devices [ 91 ]. As an example, for frequency range of 401–406 MHz, the maximum allowable bandwidth that can be used is around 300 kHz which greatly limits the communication rates of such devices to a maximum of 50 kb/s [ 91 ]. Alternatively, Okunev et al , showed in [ 92 ] that digital acoustic intra-body systems can provide up to 0.5–1.0 Mbit/s data rate at BER = 0.001 with real acoustic transducers in frequency range of about 1–2 MHz [ 92 ].…”

Section: Candidate Wireless Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A Survey on Wireless Body Area Networks for eHealthcare Systems in Residential Environments

Ghamari

Janko

Sherratt

et al. 2016

Sensors

256

134

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Current progress in wearable and implanted health monitoring technologies has strong potential to alter the future of healthcare services by enabling ubiquitous monitoring of patients. A typical health monitoring system consists of a network of wearable or implanted sensors that constantly monitor physiological parameters. Collected data are relayed using existing wireless communication protocols to a base station for additional processing. This article provides researchers with information to compare the existing low-power communication technologies that can potentially support the rapid development and deployment of WBAN systems, and mainly focuses on remote monitoring of elderly or chronically ill patients in residential environments.

show abstract

“…2 Recent studies have proposed and demonstrated different protocols with varying data rates for intra-body ultrasound communication. [5][6][7][8] However, there is a large disparity in achieved rates between systems using miniaturized IMDs (~10 kbps) and prototypes using large commercial wideband transducers (~Mbps). Major unavoidable challenges arise from miniaturization including degraded bandwidth, lower directivity, and limited processing capability stemming from packaging and power constraints.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploiting spatial degrees of freedom for high data rate ultrasound communication with implantable devices

Wang

Arbabian

2017

Applied Physics Letters

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We propose and demonstrate an ultrasonic communication link using spatial degrees of freedom to increase data rates for deeply implantable medical devices. Low attenuation and millimeter wavelengths make ultrasound an ideal communication medium for miniaturized low-power implants. While small spectral bandwidth has drastically limited achievable data rates in conventional ultrasonic implants, large spatial bandwidth can be exploited by using multiple transducers in a multiple-input/multiple-output system to provide spatial multiplexing gain without additional power, larger bandwidth, or complicated packaging. We experimentally verify the communication link in mineral oil with a transmitter and receiver 5 cm apart, each housing two custom-designed mm-sized piezoelectric transducers operating at the same frequency. Two streams of data modulated with quadrature phase-shift keying at 125 kbps are simultaneously transmitted and received on both channels, effectively doubling the data rate to 250 kbps with a measured bit error rate below 10 -4 . We also evaluate the performance and robustness of the channel separation network by testing the communication link after introducing position offsets. These results demonstrate the potential of spatial multiplexing to enable more complex implant applications requiring higher data rates.Advances in miniaturized, wireless, and deeply implantable medical devices (IMDs) can enable coordinated closed-loop diagnostics and treatments for applications like neuromodulation and drug delivery. 1 As their capabilities become more complex and numerous, robust and low-power communication becomes increasingly important. Research into wireless networks in the body have largely focused on radio frequency (RF) communications. 2 However, a major challenge for the propagation of electromagnetic (EM) waves in the body is power absorption in tissue. The absorbed power is dissipated as heat leading to both health concerns and significant path loss. 3 More recently, there has been increased interest in using ultrasonic waves for intra-body communication and power transfer. 2,4 At low MHz frequencies, reduced scattering due to relative homogeneity in tissue density and compressibility as well as low attenuation of about 1 dB·cm -1 ·MHz -1 in soft tissue allow ultrasonic waves to safely propagate much farther in tissue than EM waves. 1 The orders of magnitude slower propagation velocity of acoustic waves in the body (~1500 m/s) also results in millimeter wavelengths around a MHz, allowing for simpler circuits, beamforming capabilities, and smaller transducers. 1 On the other hand, the lower operating frequency and fundamentally smaller bandwidth drastically limit the achievable data rate and available modulation schemes. Required data rates can vary considerably depending on the application. For example, glucose monitoring may need kbps speeds while imaging/video may require Mbps speeds. 2 Recent studies have proposed and demonstrated different protocols with varying data rates for intra-body ultrasou...

show abstract

Mbps experimental acoustic through-tissue communications: MEAT-COMMS

Cited by 27 publications

References 12 publications

In-Body Communications Exploiting Light: A Proof-of-Concept Study Using Ex Vivo Tissue Samples

In-Body Communications Exploiting Light: A Proof-of-Concept Study Using Ex Vivo Tissue Samples

A Survey on Wireless Body Area Networks for eHealthcare Systems in Residential Environments

Exploiting spatial degrees of freedom for high data rate ultrasound communication with implantable devices

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About