A Conceptual Framework for Developing an Implantable Research Platform: A Multimodality Approach to Stimulating and Recording

Implantable medical devices are commonly used in research studies, clinical trials, and direct patient care and have been for many years. Researchers have targeted the application of these devices on specific application domains such as neural prosthetics, cardiac rhythm, and implantable drug delivery. This study proposes a configurable electronics implantable platform based on core capabilities that can be applied across various application domains. This platform provides a combination of general purpose capabilities such as programmable interval, bi-directional radio-frequency wireless communication for data transmission and control, configurable front-end circuitry to provide electrical stimulation and electrophysiology pre-amplifiers, analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversion capability, a core computational engine (microprocessor or FPGA), scalable input-output manifold options, data compression and variable bandwidth features, and single-use or wirelessly rechargeable battery variants. These capabilities will be configurable into custom, application-specific devices which can be used for a variety of acute and chronic studies.