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RF rectifiers for EM power harvesting in a Deep Brain Stimulating device

Australasian Physical & Engineering Sciences in Medicine volume 38, pages 157–172 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

A passive deep brain stimulation (DBS) device can be equipped with a rectenna, consisting of an antenna and a rectifier, to harvest energy from electromagnetic fields for its operation. This paper presents optimization of radio frequency rectifier circuits for wireless energy harvesting in a passive head-mountable DBS device. The aim is to achieve a compact size, high conversion efficiency, and high output voltage rectifier. Four different rectifiers based on the Delon doubler, Greinacher voltage tripler, Delon voltage quadrupler, and 2-stage charge pumped architectures are designed, simulated, fabricated, and evaluated. The design and simulation are conducted using Agilent Genesys at operating frequency of 915 MHz. A dielectric substrate of FR-4 with thickness of 1.6 mm, and surface mount devices (SMD) components are used to fabricate the designed rectifiers. The performance of the fabricated rectifiers is evaluated using a 915 MHz radio frequency (RF) energy source. The maximum measured conversion efficiency of the Delon doubler, Greinacher tripler, Delon quadrupler, and 2-stage charge pumped rectifiers are 78, 75, 73, and 76 % at −5 dBm input power and for load resistances of 5–15 kΩ. The conversion efficiency of the rectifiers decreases significantly with the increase in the input power level. The Delon doubler rectifier provides the highest efficiency at both −5 and 5 dBm input power levels, whereas the Delon quadrupler rectifier gives the lowest efficiency for the same inputs. By considering both efficiency and DC output voltage, the charge pump rectifier outperforms the other three rectifiers. Accordingly, the optimised 2-stage charge pumped rectifier is used together with an antenna to harvest energy in our DBS device.

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Affiliations

  1. School of Engineering, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Geelong, VIC, 3216, Australia

    Md. Kamal Hosain, Abbas Z. Kouzani & Akif Kaynak

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA

    Susannah Tye

  3. School of Medicine, IMPACT Strategic Research Centre, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Geelong, VIC, 3216, Australia

    Michael Berk

Authors
  1. Md. Kamal Hosain
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  2. Abbas Z. Kouzani
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  3. Susannah Tye
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  4. Akif Kaynak
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  5. Michael Berk
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Correspondence to Md. Kamal Hosain.

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Hosain, M.K., Kouzani, A.Z., Tye, S. et al. RF rectifiers for EM power harvesting in a Deep Brain Stimulating device. Australas Phys Eng Sci Med 38, 157–172 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13246-015-0328-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13246-015-0328-7

Keywords

  • RF
  • Rectifier
  • Deep brain stimulation
  • Energy harvesting
  • Passive device