Integrated Wireless Neurochemical Monitoring System

Carlos Dorta-QuiƱones and Rajeev Dokania

carlos_fscvExisting electrochemical biosensors used for in-vivo measurements of neurotransmitter release in the brain of rats incorporate external data acquisition systems that impose a significant amount of stress and severely restrict movement of the rats under test. We propose a low-cost, low-power wireless biomedical implant that overcomes the typical limitations of tethered recording setups in order to enable stress-free, real-time monitoring of dopaminergic activity in freely moving rats. Performing real-time background subtraction techniques on-chip before digitization of the neurochemical signal improves significantly the dynamic range of the data acquisition system and also enables the integration of low-cost medium-resolution data converters consuming minimal power and real estate with a performance equivalent to their high-resolution discrete-component counterparts.