Power Issues on Circuit Design for Cochlear Implants

Cochlear implants (CIs) have achieved great success in restoring hearing to profoundly deaf people. In the circuit design for CIs, power is always a key issue which incorporates efficient power supply and low power consumption. The power supply mainly involves how to efficiently harvest energy from the wireless signals, while the low power circuit design can take a variety of approaches at different design levels. Along with a general review on the evolution of circuit structures for CIs, the power issue is addressed by practical power- driven design cases including efficient wireless link, low power stimulating circuit and digital signal processor.