Optimizing Volumetric Efficiency and Modeling Backscatter Communication in Biosensing Ultrasonic Implants

Abstract

Ultrasonic backscatter communication has gained popularity in recent years with the advent of deep-tissue sub-mm scale biosensing implants in which piezoceramic (piezo) resonators are used as acoustic antennas. Miniaturization is a key design goal for such implants to reduce tissue displacement and enable minimally invasive implantation techniques. Here, we provide a systematic design approach for the implant piezo geometry and operation frequency to minimize the overall volume of the implant. Moreover, a critical design aspect of an ultrasonic backscatter communication link is the response of the piezo acoustic reflection coefficient $\Gamma$ with respect to the variable shunt impedance, $Z_E$, of the implant uplink modulator. Due to the complexity of the piezo governing equations and multi-domain, electro-acoustical nature of the piezo, $\Gamma(Z_E)$ has often been characterized numerically and the implant uplink modulator has been designed empirically resulting in sub-optimal performance in terms of data rate and linearity. Here, we present a SPICE friendly end-to-end equivalent circuit model of the channel as a piezo-IC co-simulation tool that incorporates inherent path losses present in a typical ultrasonic backscatter channel. The circuit model is then used to simulate the channel transient response in a common CAD tool. To provide further insight into the channel response, we present experimentally validated closed form expressions for $\Gamma(Z_E)$ under various boundary conditions. These expressions couple $\Gamma$ to the commonly used Thevenin equivalent circuit model of the piezo, facilitating systematic design and synthesis of ultrasonic backscatter uplink modulators