Recent advances in power efficient output stage for high density implantable stimulators

A major drawback of a current-controlled stimulation is its power efficiency. However, it is commonly used in implantable stimulators due to its safety. The power efficiency of a current-controlled stimulation can be improved by reducing the headroom voltage needed in the current driver. A promising technique is to bias the transistor in triode region whereas improving output impedance through the regulated cascode structure. This comes with a feature of implicit compliance monitor which is used for the supply voltage adaptation. This paper presents an overview on recent power efficient high voltage-compliance output drivers.