• Electronics and Telecommunications Trends
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.27-39
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• 2017

A variety of medical devices are utilized to repair or help injured body functions after accidental injury(such as a traffic accident), population aging, or disease. Such medical devices are being actively researched and developed in portable form, skin patchable type, and further, implantable form. In the future, active implantable medical devices for neuro and brain sciences are expected to be developed. Active implantable medical devices that detect brain signals and control neurology for a wider understanding of human cognition and nerve functions, and for an understanding and treatment of various diseases, are being actively pursued for future use. In this paper, the core elements of implantable devices that can be applied to neuro and brain sciences are classified into electrode technologies for bio-signal acquisition and stimulation, analog/digital circuit technologies for signal processing, human body communication technologies, wireless power transmission technologies for continuous device use, and device integration technologies to integrate them. In each chapter, the latest technology development trends for each detailed technology field are reviewed.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• v.23 no.7
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• pp.171-185
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• 2023

The cardiovascular syndrome is the dominant reason for death and the number of deaths due to this syndrome has greatly increased recently. Regular cardiac monitoring is crucial in controlling heart parameters, particularly for initial examination and precautions. The quantity of cardiac patients is rising each day and it would increase the load of work for doctors/nurses in handling the patients' situation. Hence, it needed a solution that might benefit doctors/nurses in monitoring the improvement of the health condition of patients in real-time and likewise assure decreasing medical treatment expenses. Regular heart monitoring via wireless body area networks (WBANs) including implantable and wearable medical devices is contemplated as a life-changing technique for medical assistance. This article focuses on the latest development in wearable and implantable devices for cardiovascular monitoring. First, we go through the wearable devices for the electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring. Then, we reviewed the implantable devices for Blood Pressure (BP) monitoring. Subsequently, the evaluation of leading wearable and implantable sensors for heart monitoring mentioned over the previous six years, the current article provides uncertain direction concerning the description of diagnostic effectiveness, thus intending on making discussion in the technical communal to permit aimed at the formation of well-designed techniques. The article is concluded by debating several technical issues in wearable and implantable technology and their possible potential solutions for conquering these challenges.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers P
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• v.64 no.3
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• pp.175-181
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• 2015

In this paper, the neuromuscular electrical stimulation medical devices for non-implantable incontinence treatment other than vaginal insertion type was developed and commercialized. The structure of medical devices for electrical stimulation based on the anatomy of the pelvic floor muscle designed. Then, the optimum parameters that may be effective in pelvic floor muscle electrical stimulation was set. The circuit system based on the optimum parameters were designed and manufactured. The frequency of the pulse voltage for electrical stimulation is 75[Hz], the pulse width is 300[${\mu}s$], the development of medical devices was to have seven program functions to the various treatments. The circuit system of medical devices was composed of microcontroller, comparator and converter. The performance of the developed circuit system in KTC(Korea Testing Certification) were carried out medical equipment inspection test. Test results, test specifications were satisfied with the medical device, the performance was verified to be commercialized as a medical device. The development of medical devices were validated risk assessment and product performance through a software validation. Commercialization of medical equipment was acquired to enable the certification standards of the international standard IEC 60601-1.

• IEIE Transactions on Smart Processing and Computing
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.133-140
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• 2015

Neural stimulating implantable medical devices (IMDs) have been widely used to treat neurological diseases or interface with sensory feedback for amputees or patients suffering from severe paralysis. More recent IMDs, such as retinal implants or brain-computer interfaces, demand higher performance to enable sophisticated therapies, while consuming power at higher orders of magnitude to handle more functions on a larger scale at higher rates, which limits the ability to supply the IMDs with primary batteries. Inductive power transmission across the skin is a viable solution to power up an IMD, while it demands high power efficiencies at every power delivery stage for safe and effective stimulation without increasing the surrounding tissue's temperature. This paper reviews various wireless neural stimulating systems and their power management techniques to maximize IMD power efficiency. We also explore both wireless electrical and optical stimulation mechanisms and their power requirements in implantable neural interface applications.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.249-254
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• 2014

Recent advancement of USN technology has lent itself to the evolving communication technology for implantable devices in the field of medical service. The wireless transmission section for communication between implantable medical devices and patients is a cause of concern over invasion of privacy, resulting from external attackers' hacking and thus leakage of private medical information. In addition, any attempt to manipulate patients' medical information could end up in serious medical issues. The present study proposes an authentication protocol safe against intruders' attacks when RFID/USN technology is applied to implantable medical devices. Being safe against spoofing, information exposure and eavesdropping attacks, the proposed protocol is based on hash-function operation and adopts session keys and random numbers to prevent re-encryption. This paper verifies the security of the proposed protocol using the formal verification tool, Casper/FDR.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.415-430
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• 2008

The technologies in medical electronic implant(MEI) devices are developing rapidly, and already, there are various kinds of the MEI devices in the current medical equipments market. Recently, the global market scale of MEI devices have been increased about 13% year by year, and the import amount of MEI devices in Korea is increasing rapidly. In the near future, the demands of MEI devices will be magnificently increasing by the continuous development of the biomedical electronics devices which coupled with neural, brain and other organs will bring us to tremendous effects, such as providing new therapeutic solutions to patients, extension and saving human life, and an important clue of medical development. However, the investment of the research and the activity of developments in this field are still very weak in the Korea. Consequently, this paper introduces about the research trends of MEI devices, and technological problems those must be solved, and then concludes with the suggestions in order to be the leading country in this field.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.169-176
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• 2015

Implantable closed-loop epilepsy controllers require ideally both accurate epileptic seizure detection and low power consumption. On-chip oscillators can be used in implantable devices because they consume less power than other oscillators such as crystal oscillators. In this study, we investigated the tolerable error range of a lower power on-chip oscillator without losing the accuracy of seizure detection. We used 24 ictal and 14 interictal intracranial electroencephalographic segments recorded from epilepsy surgery patients. The performance variations with respect to oscillator frequency errors were estimated in terms of specificity, modified sensitivity, and detection timing difference of seizure onset using Generic Osorio Frei Algorithm. The frequency errors of on-chip oscillators were set at ${\pm}10%$ as the worst case. Our results showed that an oscillator error of ${\pm}10%$ affected both specificity and modified sensitivity by less than 3%. In addition, seizure onsets were detected with errors earlier or later than without errors and the average detection timing difference varied within less than 0.5 s range. The results suggest that on-chip oscillators could be useful for low-power implantable devices without error compensation circuitry requiring significant additional power. These findings could help the design of closed-loop systems with a seizure detector and automated stimulators for intractable epilepsy patients.

• Convergence Security Journal
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• v.14 no.3_1
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• pp.11-19
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• 2014

As both medical and IT technologies advance, convergent medical technologies such as implantable medical devices are receiving a lot of attentions from the research and medical appliance market. On the other hand, such a new medical service is facing several new security threats including patient privacy breach since the service is based on the wireless communication. Especially, the new security threat could induce the patient's life threatening accident, so that more secure measures should be provided. In this paper, a variety of security threats associated with the implantable medical devices are pinpointed and a new security mechanism against such threats is proposed.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.414-427
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• 2023

Implantable bioabsorbable combination products undergo inherent degradation and systemic absorption within the physiological environment, thereby streamlining the therapeutic regimen and obviating the imperative for invasive extraction procedures. This inherent property not only enhances patient convenience and therapeutic efficacy but also underpins a paradigm of support characterized by heightened safety parameters. Within the regulatory landscapes of Korea, the United States, and Europe, implantable bioabsorbable combination products are meticulously classified into distinct categories, either as pharmaceutical implants or as implantable medical devices, depending on their primary mode of action. This scholarly investigation systematically examines the regulatory frameworks governing implantable bioabsorbable combination products in South Korea, the United States, and Europe. Notable discrepancies across national jurisdictions emerge concerning regulatory specifics, including terminology, product classification, and product name associated with these products. The conspicuous absence of standardized approval regulations presents a formidable barrier to the commercialization of these advanced medical devices. This academic discourse passionately emphasizes the critical need for formulating and implementing a sophisticated regulatory framework capable of streamlining the product approval process, thereby paving the way for a seamless path to commercializing implantable bioabsorbable combination products.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.309-317
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• 2005

It is expected that fully-implantable middle-ear hearing devices (FIMEHDs) will soon be available with the advantages of complete concealment, easy surgical implantation, and low power operation to resolve the problems of semi-implantable middle-ear hearing devices (SIMEHDs) such as discomfort of wearing an external device and replacement of battery. Over the last 3 years, a Korean research team at Kyungpook National University has developed an FIMEHD called ACRHS-1 based on a differential floating mass transducer (DFMT). The main research focus was functional improvement, the establishment of easy surgical procedures for implantation, miniaturization, and a low-power operation. Accordingly, this paper reviews the overall system architecture, functions, and experimental results for ACRHS-1 and its related accessories, including a wireless battery charger and remote controller.