Abstract
This presentation addresses the design of radio frequency (RF) transceivers for extremely small medical transceivers. Two projects will be discussed. The first is a transceiver for the Medical Implant Communication Service (MICS) band, which the FCC set aside specifically for medical telemetry. Although this standard has existed for almost a decade, current solutions could do more to exploit the unique features of the implant environment to lower the cost and power dissipation, as well as the size, of implantable transceivers. Here we present an overall system concept for an implantable that takes advantage of the body’s extraordinary temperature regulation capabilities. Measured results from a prototype IC are also presented. The second project concerns a new platform for implantable monitors that we call the uImplant platform, and the goal is to keep the size of the device under 20 mm3. Our plans for this project, as well as preliminary results from a fabricated IC, will be presented.
Biography
Joel L. Dawson is an associate professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT. He received the S.B. in EE from MIT in 1996, and the MEng. degree from MIT in EECS in 1997. He went on to pursue further graduate studies at Stanford University, where he received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering for his work on power amplifier linearization techniques. Before joining the faculty at MIT, Dr. Dawson spent one year at a startup company that he co-founded. He continues to be active in the industry as both a technical and legal consultant. Prof. Dawson received the NSF CAREER award in 2008, and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in 2009.
Members of the Dawson group at MIT pursue solutions to a wide variety of problems in analog, mixed-signal, and RF circuit design. Our current focus is on RF transceiver architectures for deep-submicron CMOS. In addition, we work on biomedical device development in collaboration with clinicians at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, MA.
