Integrated flexible ocular coil for power and data transfer in retinal prostheses.
A microfabricated and fully-implantable coil for use as a power and data transfer component for retinal prostheses is presented. Compared with traditional hand-made ocular coils, this parylene-based device is thin and flexible with 10 turns of thin-film metal wires and a thickness of less than 10 &#956;m. In addition, the entire coil structure can be heat-formed on a mold to match the eye's curvature for extraocular implantation. Because it is made using parylene thin-film technology, this coil can be directly integrated with multielectrode arrays and with parylene-based packages incorporating application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) or discrete electrical components such as chip capacitors. This coil thus enables the fabrication and implantation of a fully microfabricated system for retinal prostheses.
Li
W
W
Electrical Engineering, Div. of Engineering and Applied Science, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
Rodger
D
D
Weiland
J
J
Humayun
M
M
Tai
Y
Y