An implantable ASIC for neural stimulation

The integrated circuit proposed in this paper is dedicated to the neural stimulation of motor muscles for paraplegic people. For this kind of application, the constraints in terms of safety and performances are stringent. In practice our ASIC (application specific integrated circuit) allows us to deliver precise calibrated stimulation pulses to specific multi-polar electrode together with a very safety running cycle. In particular, the DAC has been thought to be fully monotonic and the output stage to ensure a passive and secure discharge of the safety capacitor. Also some tricky features have been added in order to improve the classical charge pump that generates on-chip high voltage.