Implantable Wireless Telemetry Boards for In Vivo Transocular Transmission

We report live animal studies that verify and quantify successful transocular transmission of data from a miniature low-power implant. To minimize damage, implantation within layers of the eye requires an ultrasmall device on a scale of just a few millimeters on each side and less than 500 m in thickness. A high-frequency transmitter integrated circuit (IC) was designed, fabricated, and bonded onto a board containing an antenna, matching network components, and interconnects. The transmitter must achieve sufficient efficiency to draw minimal power from the limited onboard storage array while outputting a sufficiently large signal to overcome tissue-induced attenuation. Two different versions of the system were developed, one using a low-temperature co-fired ceramic material for the substrate and the other using silicon. Animal studies performed using live rabbits followed by empirical measurements verified the feasibility of a wireless telemetry scheme for a low-power miniature ocular implant.