Robust magnetoelectric backscatter communication system for bioelectronic implants

Wireless communication technologies for bioelectronic implants enable remote monitoring for diagnosis and adaptive therapeutic intervention without the constraints of wired connections. However, wireless data uplink from millimeter-scale devices deep in the body struggles to achieve low power consumption while maintaining large misalignment tolerances. Here, we report a passive wireless backscatter communication system based on magnetoelectric transducers that consumes less than 0.3 pJ/bit and achieves less than 1E-6 bit error rate at a distance of 55 mm while tolerating a misalignment of 10 mm. Using this robust data uplink, we designed a wireless cardiac sensing node that can transmit electrocardiogram signals from the beating heart surface of a porcine model to a custom external transceiver using the magnetoelectric backscatter uplink. This reliable, near-zero-power communication method provides opportunities for next-generation bioelectronics to feature real-time physiological monitoring and closed-loop therapies while maintaining a small form factor and low power consumption. Reliable communication is challenging for small bioelectronic implants. Fatima Alrashdan, Joshua Woods, and colleagues report a wireless magnetoelectric backscatter system enabling ultra-low-power data link, demonstrated with cardiac sensing in vivo.