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Wireless Power Supply for Implantable Biomedical Device Based on Primary

Input Voltage Regulation

Conference Paper · June 2007

DOI: 10.1109/ICIEA.2007.4318406 · Source: IEEE Xplore

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Wireless Power Supply for Implantable Biomedical
Device Based on Primary Input Voltage Regulation
P. Si, Member IEEE, A. P. Hu, Senior Member IEEE, J. W. Hsu, M. Chiang, Y. Wang, S. Malpas, and D. Budgett
The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
The Bioengineering Institute
The University of Auckland, New Zealand

Abstract-This paper presents a wireless power supply system system.

for implantable biomedical devices. Magnitude of the input In this paper, a wireless power supply system based on
voltage supplied to the primary power converter is dynamically voltage magnitude regulation at the external primary side is
regulated according to the power demand of the device. The presented. The power flow of the system is regulated by
major advantage of such a system is that its average power loss
controlling the input voltage magnitude of the primary
is minimized. Unlike methods implemented at implantable
secondary (pick-up) side, the magnitude regulation is power converter according to power demands of load and the
undertaken at the external primary side. Thus the heating dynamic changes of circuit parameters.
effect and physical size of the implantable secondary can be
reduced. The system utilizes parallel tuning circuit to boost the
voltage induced in the secondary pick-up, and does not require II. PROPOSED SYSTEM
a tight coupling between the primary and secondary coils. As a Fig. 1 shows the basic configuration of the magnitude
result, the system has great tolerance to the variation in the air regulated wireless power supply system. At the external
gap distance between the coils. The characteristics of the primary side, a current-fed push-pull resonant converter is
magnitude regulated power flow have been thoroughly
analyzed, and both simulations and laboratory experiments
employed due to its advantages of high efficiency, low cost
have verified the proposed system. and small physical size. The operating frequency of the
system is governed by the zero voltage switching frequency
of the push-pull resonant converter, which is determined by
[9]:
I. INTRODUCTION
Implantable biomedical devices have found applications in   1  
ω =  1 −  (L C ) − ϕ   2ϕ 
1 +  (1)
a wide range of biomedical areas, including pacemakers,   4Q 2 
p
 T  π 
monitoring devices, functional electrical stimulators (FES),
left ventricular assist devices (LVAD), and artificial hearts. where φ, Q and T are the initial phase angle, the quality
Supplying power to these devices for long-term operation is factor, and the time constant of the converter.
a challenging task. Traditionally, implantable batteries and Inductor Lp represents primary coil (track), which is tuned
percutaneous link power supply systems are used. However, with a capacitor C, forming the primary resonant tank. The
the batteries have limited energy storage and life span, and pick-up (secondary) coil represented by LS is implanted for
the percutaneous links across the skin impose infection risks. inducing power from the electromagnetic field generated by
Wireless systems have been developed to supply power over the primary coil. Since Ls is tuned with capacitor Ct in
relatively large air gaps to implantable biomedical devices parallel (Ct=1/(Lsω2)), the induced voltage in the pick-up coil
[1-5]. Compared to the devices relying purely on can boost up according to the boost-up factor of the pick-up
implantable batteries, the biomedical devices driven by the [10]. Due to the boost up ability, air core windings can be
wireless power supplies can be much smaller, especially utilized in the primary and secondary coil while a relatively
when high power outputs are required. large gap distance between them is allowed. Additional
A major issue involved in the wireless power supply weight and heating effect caused by magnetic cores are
systems is power flow regulation. This is particularly eliminated in such a air-core system which is with parallel
important to systems with high coupling variations and load tuning.
changes. In biomedical applications, it is a common practice As shown in Fig. 1, for achieving the maximum power
to implement a power regulating unit at an implantable pick- transfer capacity, a full bridge rectifier is adopted in the
up (secondary) side [6-8]. However, this requires extra pick-up to convert ac power to dc. Also, a dc inductor Ldc is
components which may contribute to high heat generation employed at the dc side of the rectifier for increasing power
and will contribute to additional size and weight. To reduce delivery ability. The dc inductor maintains the current flow
the power losses and physical size of the pick-up circuit, a through the rectifier to be continuous so that the power
closed-loop power control strategy is a favorable choice to transferred from ac to dc side becomes more stable [10].
regulate power flow at the external primary side of the
 External Primary Skin
Implantable Pick-up (Secondary)
Primary Power Circuitry
Resonant tank
Secondary Power Circuitry
+ + Pick-up control
Ldc +
Push-pull Voltage
Lp vac Vdc ADC
vin Resonant vr Ct Detection
C
- Cdc -
Converter - Ls Implantable
Parallel Tuning Device Data
Monitor Processing
& Control

Primary Control
Body RX
TX
+ Vset

Control Signal _ DAC Vdc Feedback Data

Biomedical RX
Data
Data Monitor RF Digital Communication
Processing TX
& Control

Fig. 1: Wireless power supply system with magnitude control from external primary side.

The primary current-fed push-pull converter is powered by where Vˆr is the peak value of the resonant voltage vr.
a variable dc voltage source, vin. The power flow in the And, when the pick-up operates under the maximum
system can be controlled by varying the value of vin power transfer condition, the current flow through the
according to the power demand of biomedical devices. This rectifier would be continuous. In this situation, the secondary
variable dc voltage supply can be achieved by applying a dc- resonant voltage (vac) across the pick-up coil is determined
dc power converter such as a buck or buck-boost converter. by the output dc voltage (Vdc) of the secondary side
In addition to transferring physiology signals, the RF data according to [10]:
transceivers are also used to transfer the signal of the output
voltage Vdc from the implantable secondary to external π
Vˆac = Vdc (3)
primary, as shown in Fig. 1. The value of the input voltage 2
vin varies depending on the feedback signal of Vdc to regulate
the power flow so as to maintain the voltage supplied to the where Vˆac is the peak value of the secondary resonant
implantable device constant. Due to digital communication, voltage (vac) across the pick-up coil Ls.
the output voltage signal has to be digitized using analog to Equation (2) and (3) show that in the maximum power
digit converter (ADC) before it is transmitted from the transfer situation the amplitudes of the resonant voltages
implantable secondary. On the contrary, after the receiver in across the primary and secondary coil are independently
the primary receives the digital feedback signal of Vdc, a determined by the input dc voltage of the primary converter
digit to an analog converter (DAC) converts it back to and the output dc voltage of the secondary pick-up.
analog signal. Then it is compared to the preset nominal Therefore, the maximum power capacity can be analyzed
voltage Vset to generate a control signal for controlling the using the model shown in Fig. 2.
value of the dc voltage vin.
Iˆ1∠α Iˆ2∠β
+ M + Ldc
III. ANALYSIS OF MAGNITUDE REGULATED POWER FLOW +
+
Push-pull
It has been known that the magnitude of the resonant Resonant Vˆr ∠0 o
Vˆac∠θ
voltage (vr) across the primary coil is proportional to the vin Converter Vdc
Cdc
magnitude of the input dc voltage (vin) of the push-pull LP LS
_ _ _ _
converter according to [9]:

Vˆr = π vin (2)

Fig. 2: Model of coupling between primary and secondary.
 Inductors Lp and Ls represent the primary and secondary According to (9) and (10), the maximum power transfer
coils. The voltages across them are the primary and capability of the system can be obtained as:
secondary resonant voltage, vr and vac. Lp and Ls are
magnetically coupled with a mutual inductance M. Ignoring
Pmax =
πMV dc (2 LS vin )2 − (MVdc )2 (11)
practical high frequency harmonics and system power loss,
the steady state analysis can be undertaken using phasor
16 LS f (LP LS )2 − M 4
approach. Assuming the phase angle of the primary resonant Considering that the coupling coefficient k (k2=M2/(LpLs))
voltage is zero, the voltage phasors across inductor Lp and Ls of the wireless power supply system is only up to 0.1, the
are Vˆr ∠ 0o and Vˆac∠θ respectively, as shown in Fig. 2. The value of (LpLs)2-M4 is approximately equal to (LpLs)2. Then,
phasors of the current flows through Lp and Ls are defined as the maximum power of the system determined by (11) can
Iˆ1∠α and Iˆ2∠β respectively.
be calculated using the following equation:
Based on the model shown in Fig. 2, the following πMVdc
equations can be obtained: Pmax = 2
(2 LS vin )2 − (MVdc )2 (12)
16 fLP LS
Vˆr ∠0o = ( jωLP ) ⋅ Iˆ1∠α − ( jωM ) ⋅ Iˆ2∠β (4)
It can be seen from (12) to obtain a meaningful solution of
Pmax, the term 2LsVin must be larger than MVdc ,meaning
Vˆac ∠θ = ( jωM ) ⋅ Iˆ1∠α − ( jωLS ) ⋅ Iˆ2∠β (5) equation (12) is valid to analyze the maximum power
Under the steady state condition, the open circuit voltage transfer capacity only when the following condition is met:
(voc) of the pick-up coil Ls can be determined as: MVdc
vin > (13)
Voc = jωMI1 = ωMIˆ1∠ (α + 90 ) o
(6) 2 Ls
It has been known that the open circuit voltage voc and the Fig. 3 illustrates the relationship between the input dc
current flowing through the pick-up coil, i2, are in phase voltage (vin) and the maximum power transfer capability
when the pick-up operates under the maximum power (Pmax) of the wireless power supply system. As a
transfer condition [10]. Thus, the following relationship comparison, two different mutual inductances, M and M', are
between phase angle α and β can be obtained: shown, where M>M'. It can be seen that the maximum
power transfer capability rises with the increase of the input
α + 90o = β (7) dc voltage. And at the same input dc voltage, the system
Solving equation (4), (5) and (7), the peak value of the with higher mutual inductance has higher power transfer
primary current can be expressed as: capability.

Iˆ1 =
1 (L Vˆ ) − (MVˆ )
S r
2
ac
2
(8)
ω (LP LS )2 − M 4

If the system is loosely coupled so that the mutual

inductance M can be considered to be very small, (8) can be
approximately expressed as I1≈Vr/(ωLP), where I1 and Vr are
rms values of current i1 and voltage vr. This means that the
primary current is equal to the primary resonant voltage
divided by impedance of the self-inductance of the primary
coil.
Then, the peak value of the open circuit voltage voc of the
pick-up coil can be expressed as:

Vˆoc = ωM Iˆ1 = M
(L Vˆ ) − (MVˆ )
S r
2
ac
2

(9) Fig. 3: Relation between maximum power transfer capability and primary
(LP LS )2 − M 4 input dc voltage.

The maximum power transferred by the pick-up is It should be noted that when the dc input voltage is very
determined by the following equation [10]: low, even then the condition shown in (13) is may be
satisfied, the current flowing through the pickup rectifier
π may become discontinuous, causing larger errors in the
Pmax = I scVdc (10)
2 2 analysis. However, in most practical situations, the system
does not operate at a very low dc voltage, so (12) is valuable
where Vdc is the output dc voltage of the pick-up, and Isc is for predicting the maximum possible power that the system
short circuit current of the pick-up coil (Isc=Voc/(ωLs)).
can deliver. Another point is that the power transfer
capability is not proportional to the input voltage vin TABLE I
according to (11) and (12). However, when the input voltage SIMULATION PARAMETERS
vin is increased to a higher value, the increase of Pmax Parameters Values Notes
becomes approximately linear. This is because when vin is Vdc 10 VDC Output dc voltage of secondary pick-up
considerably high (or M is considerably low), 2LsVin is f 155 kHz Operating frequency
much larger than MVdc. As a result, Eqn (12) can be LP 25 uH Self-inductance of primary coil
LS 4 uH Self-Inductance of secondary pick-up coil
simplified as:
M 1 uH Mutual inductance
Ldc 0.5 mH Secondary DC inductance
πMV dc
Pmax = vin (14) Vin_min 0 VDC Minimum input voltage of the primary
8 fL P LS Vin_max 50 VDC Maximum input voltage of the primary

where power Pmax linearly increases with vin.

Fig. 3 also shows the system with a higher mutual
inductance requires a smaller variation of vin to regulate the
power flow. On the other hand, this means that the power 25
variation of a closely coupled system is much more sensitive

Maximum Power Transfered (W)

to the change of the input dc voltage than a loosely coupled 20
system.
According to (14) the design parameters such as the 15

operating frequency f and mutual inductance M, can also

affect the power transfer capability. During an actual 10

operation, the operating frequency f and the mutual

5
inductance M can vary due to the factors such as the air gap
change caused by the movement of an animal or patient.
0
Therefore, to maintain a constant output dc voltage from the 0 20 40 60 80 100
pick-up, regulating the input voltage of the converter can Input DC Voltage (V)
also compensate for the dynamic change of the operating
frequency f and the mutual inductance M.
Fig. 4: Simulation results of the relationship between input voltage
It should be noted that although (14) shows that the and maximum power transfer capability.
maximum power transfer capability would be very high if
the frequency is very low, in practice the operating A prototype wireless power supply system for free moving
frequency has to be high to reduce the physical size of animal implantations has also been built and tested in
reactive components such as coils and tuning capacitors. laboratory for verifying the system functionality. The
Limiting the lowest operating frequency is also for achieving primary coil was a lumped loop around an animal cage sized
a high impedance of the primary coil, so as to reduce the 55×30×20cm3 (length×width×high). The electromagnetic
track current and associated power loss and heat generation. field generated by the primary coil covers the whole cage
Moreover, the minimum operating frequency is restricted by area, but the magnetic field at the center is weaker because
the condition of the ZVS (zero voltage switching) operation the distance to primary coil winding is larger. Nordic
of a push-pull resonant converter. This condition requires the nRF24E1 transceivers were used to implement the wireless
quality factor Q of the primary coil is greater than 1.86 [9]. communication between the primary and secondary circuits.
A too low frequency would make Q too small. Fig. 5 shows the measured results of the input dc voltage
supplied to the primary converter and the output dc voltage
of the secondary pick-up. By detecting the actual output
III. SIMULATION AND EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
voltage of the secondary pick-up, the closed loop voltage
PLECS simulations have been conducted to verify the regulation system can automatically adjust the input dc
analysis of the magnitude control of the wireless power voltage of the primary power converter from minimum 10 V
supply system. The main simulation parameters are shown in to maximum 35 V. This will increase the track current and
Table 1. the flux density to a required level so that the output voltage
Fig. 4 shows the simulation results of the relationship of the secondary pick-up can be maintained constant (eg. at
between the input dc voltage of the primary converter and 7V shown in Fig. 5) across the whole animal cage. This will
the system maximum power transferred. As a comparison, ensure continuous power supply to biomedical devices
MATLAB calculation results according to (11) is also regardless of their actual location in the cage.
plotted and shown in the figure. It can be seen that the
simulation results are in a good agreement with the
analytical results. Since the system is loosely coupled
(coupling coefficient k=0.1), the maximum output power
almost linearly increases with the input dc voltage.
Vin Input Voltage of Primary Converter (VDC) Vol. 25, Issue 5, pp. 400-405, May 2001.
[3] P. Si, A. P. Hu, D. Budgett, S. Malpas, J. Yang and J. Gao,
40
"Stabilizing the operating frequency of a resonant converter for
30 wireless power transfer to implantable biomedical sensors," in Proc.
20 1st International Conference on Sensing Technology, Palmerston
North, New Zealand, 2005.
10 Left Edge Center Right Edge [4] C. G. Kim and B. H. Cho, "Transcutaneous energy transmission
with double tuned duty cycle control," Proceedings of the 31st
0 10 20 30 40 50
Intersociety Energy Conversion Engineering Conference, Vol. 1,
Location of Pick-up (cm)
pp. 587-591, Aug 1996..
Vdc [5] C. M. Zierhofer and E. S. Hochmair, "Geometric approach for
Output Voltage of Secondary Pick-up (VDC)
coupling enhancement of magnetically coupled coils," IEEE
8 Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, Vol. 43, Issue 7, pp. 708 -
6 714, July 1996.
4 [6] H. Maki, Y. Yonezawa, E. Harada and I. Ninomiya, "An
implantable telemetry system powered by a capacitor having high
2 Left Edge Center Right Edge capacitance," Proceedings of the 20th Annual International
Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology
0 10 20 30 40 50 Society, Vol. 4, pp. 1943-1946, October 1998.
Location of Pick-up (cm)
[7] A. S. Berson, "Magnetic control and powering of surgically
implanted instrumentation," IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol.
Fig. 5: Experimental results of input voltage of converter and Mag-19, No. 5, September 1983.
output voltage of pick-up. [8] A. P. Hu and S. Hussmann, "Improved power flow control for
contactless moving sensor applications" IEEE power Electronics
Letters, Vol. 2, Issue 4, pp. 135-138, 2004.
IV. CONCLUSIONS [9] A. P. Hu, "Selected resonant converters for IPT power supplies",
PhD thesis, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
A wireless power supply system for implantable University of Auckland, October 2001.
biomedical devices based on primary voltage regulation has [10] P. Si, and A. P. Hu, "Analyses of dc inductance used in ICPT power
been proposed in this paper. The power flow of the system is pick-ups for maximum power transfer," IEEE/PES Transmission
and Distribution Conference and Exhibition 2005: Asia and Pacific,
regulated effectively by dynamically controlling the input pp. 1-6, August 2005.
voltage of the primary converter. The output dc voltage of
the power pick-up is maintained constant regardless of the
variations in operating frequency, loading condition and
coupling coefficient, etc. The effect of the input voltage of
the converter on the maximum power transfer capability has
been analyzed. The analytical results show that the
maximum power transfer capability is approximately
proportional to the input voltage of the converter if the
coupling coefficient is less than 0.1. The theoretical analysis
enables the minimum value of the input voltage to be
determined for achieving the maximum power transfer
capacity. The simulation results are in good agreement with
the theoretical analysis, and a prototype has been built to
verify the operation of the system. It has shown that the
proposed system can maintain the output voltage of the
secondary pick-up to be constant across the full ranges of an
animal cage.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors gratefully acknowledge the technical and
financial support from the Department of Electrical and
Computer Engineering, the Bioengineering Institute of the
University of Auckland, and Telemetry Research Limited.

REFERENCES
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transformer system: a review and update," ASAIO Journal, Vol.
50(4), pp. 397-400, July/August 2004.
[2] R. Puers and G. Vandevoorde, "Recent progress on transcutaneous
energy transfer for total artificial heart systems," Artificial Organs,

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