Video-Capable Ultrasonic Wireless Communications Through Biological Tissues

Tabak, Gizem; Yang, Sichao; Miller, Rita J.; Oelze, Michael L.; Singer, Andrew C.

doi:10.1109/tuffc.2020.3020776

Cited by 12 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 15 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In [22], the authors built a proof of concept capsule device that demonstrated the feasibility of delivering gastrointestinal therapeutic drugs using ultrasound microbubble agents. In [23], ultrasonic waves were used to transmit video recordings at video-capable data rates using millimeter-sized transducers through water and ex vivo beef liver, ex vivo pork chop and in situ rabbit abdomen.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this work, we first establish a video broadcast link through the abdominal wall of an anesthetized rabbit. We show that using the communication system presented in [23], it was possible to broadcast standard definition video obtained with an endoscopy camera using a millimeter-sized ultrasonic transducer implanted behind the abdominal wall. We then demonstrate video transmission through a saline-filled porcine intestine wrapped with bacon using mm-sized transducers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Video-Streaming Biomedical Implants using Ultrasonic Waves for Communication

Tabak,

Choi,

Miller

et al. 2021

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The use of wireless implanted medical devices (IMDs) is growing because they facilitate continuous monitoring of patients during normal activities, simplify medical procedures required for data retrieval and reduce the likelihood of infection associated with trailing wires. However, most of the state-of-theart IMDs are passive and offline devices. One of the key obstacles to an active and online IMD is the infeasibility of real-time, highquality video broadcast from the IMD. Such broadcast would help develop innovative devices such as a video-streaming capsule endoscopy (CE) pill with therapeutic intervention capabilities. State-of-the-art IMDs employ radio-frequency electromagnetic waves for information transmission. However, high attenuation of RF-EM waves in tissues and federal restrictions on the transmit power and operable bandwidth lead to fundamental performance constraints for IMDs employing RF links, and prevent achieving high data rates that could accomodate video broadcast. In this work, ultrasonic waves were used for video transmission and broadcast through biological tissues. The proposed proof-ofconcept system was tested on a porcine intestine ex vivo and a rabbit in vivo. It was demonstrated that using a millimeter-sized, implanted biocompatible transducer operating at 1.1-1.2 MHz, it was possible to transmit endoscopic video with high resolution (1280 pixels by 720 pixels) through porcine intestine wrapped with bacon, and to broadcast standard definition (640 pixels by 480 pixels) video near real-time through rabbit abdomen in vivo. A media repository that includes experimental demonstrations and media files accompanies this paper 1 .

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Video-Streaming Biomedical Implants using Ultrasonic Waves for Communication

Tabak,

Choi,

Miller

et al. 2021

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Nonflat frequency response, severe ISI, and time variations are also present in a typical underwater acoustic communication (UWAC) channel [10]. It is demonstrated in UWAC and other related acoustic communications literature that understanding channel properties and tailoring communication methods to address particular challenges may provide significant improvements in data rates [10]- [14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High Data Rate Near-Ultrasonic Communication with Consumer Devices

Tabak

Lin

Singer

2021

2021 29th European Signal Processing Conference (EUSIPCO)

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Automating device pairing and credential exchange in consumer devices reduce the time users spend with mundane tasks and improve the user experience. Acoustic communication is gaining traction as a practical alternative to Bluetooth or Wi-Fi because it can enable quick and localized information transfer between consumer devices with built-in hardware. However, achieving high data rates (>1 kbps) in such systems has been a challenge because the systems and methods chosen for communication were not tailored to the application. In this work, a high data rate, near-ultrasonic communication (NUSC) system is proposed to transfer personal identification numbers (PINs) to establish a connection between consumer laptops using builtin microphones and speakers. The similarities between indoor near-ultrasonic and underwater acoustic communication (UWAC) channels are identified, and appropriate UWAC techniques are tailored to the NUSC system. The proposed system uses the nearultrasonic band at 18-20 kHz, and employs coherent modulation and phase-coherent adaptive equalization. The capability of the proposed system is explored in simulated and field experiments that span different device orientations and distances. The experiments demonstrate data rates of 4 kbps over distances of up to 5 meters, which is an order of magnitude higher than the data rates reported with similar systems in the literature.

show abstract

“…To enable in-body ultrasound communications with a footprint small enough to fit in a small in-body device, like an endoscopy capsule, and with data rates capable of streaming video requires small transducer elements, a small processing unit and sufficient ultrasonic power. In a recent study by Bos, et al, small individual ultrasonic elements, i.e., ultrasonic microcrystals (Sonometrics, London Ontario), were used as transmit and receive transducers [9], [10]. These microcrystals are 2 mm in diameter, operate at center frequency of 1.2 MHz, are biocompatible and have low directivity.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These microcrystals are 2 mm in diameter, operate at center frequency of 1.2 MHz, are biocompatible and have low directivity. In one of those studies, data rates of 4.4 Mbps were achieved through beef liver with quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) and a decision feedback equalizer [10]. Bos et al used QAM and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation to achieve data rates over 300 kbps through beef samples and over distance of 10 cm [11].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

High Data Rate Communications In Vivo Using Ultrasound

Kou

Miller

Singer

et al. 2021

IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The emergence of in-body medical devices has provided a means of capturing physiological or diagnostic information and streaming this information outside of the body. Currently, electromagnetic-based communications make up the bulk of in-body medical device communication protocols. Traditional electromagnetic-based solutions are limited in their data rates and available power. Recently, ultrasound was investigated as a communication channel for through-tissue data transmission. To achieve real-time video streaming through tissue, data rates of ultrasound need to exceed 1 Mbps. In a previous study, we demonstrated ultrasound communications with data rates greater than 30 Mbps with two focused ultrasound transducers using a large footprint laboratory system through slabs of lossy tissues [1]. While the form factor of the transmitter is also crucial, it is obvious that a large, focused transducer cannot fit within the size of a small in-body medical device. Several other challenges for achieving high-speed ultrasonic communication through tissue include strong reflections leading to multipath effects and attenuation. In this work, we demonstrate ultrasonic video communications using a mm-scale microcrystal transmitter with video streaming supplied by a camera connected to a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). The signals were transmitted through a tissue-mimicking phantom and through the abdomen of a rabbit in vivo. The ultrasound signal was recorded by an array probe connected to a Verasonics Vantage system and decoded back to video. To improve the received signal quality, we combined the signal from multiple channels of the array probe. Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation was used to reduce the receiver complexity under a strong multipath environment. Index Terms-diversity receiver, implanted medical device, inbody communications, OFDM modulation, wireless communication I. INTRODUCTIONThe growth of in-body or implanted medical devices has accelerated over the past decades. As the amount of information collected by these devices increases, the need for developing communication protocols to wirelessly, rapidly and safely transmit this information outside the body has also increased. In some in-body devices, there is a need to transmit video from inside the body to outside the body.One such device that requires data rates sufficient to transmit video is capsule endoscopy [2-6]. Capsule endoscopy is employed clinically to provide diagnostic information for diseases of the stomach and small intestines. This approach is less invasive and is, therefore, preferred, when possible, over traditional methods where a scope on a cable is traversed down > REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR PAPER IDENTIFICATION NUMBER (DOUBLE-CLICK HERE TO EDIT) <

show abstract

Video-Capable Ultrasonic Wireless Communications Through Biological Tissues

Cited by 12 publications

References 15 publications

Video-Streaming Biomedical Implants using Ultrasonic Waves for Communication

Video-Streaming Biomedical Implants using Ultrasonic Waves for Communication

High Data Rate Near-Ultrasonic Communication with Consumer Devices

High Data Rate Communications In Vivo Using Ultrasound

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About