Active charge balancer for CMOS integration of an array of neural stimulators

Abstract

Neuromorphic engineering, wherein the structure of a neural system is reconstructed and its applications are exploited on CMOS integrated circuits, presents various developments. This study focuses on interface technology that can adapt CMOS integrated circuits to a neural system. Existing neural stimulators are designed to accurately transmit signals and accurately stimulate the nerves; however, embedding them into the brain is challenging owing to their size and power [1]. One solution is to reduce the circuit area and power consumption at the expense of certain precision. This study successfully induces nerve activity using a designed circuit that is connected to the brain of rat; the proposed circuit demonstrates a good effect of charge balance. Moreover, this paper proposes CMOS neural stimulating circuits with low power consumption and a small area.