A 128-channel 6mW wireless neural recording IC with on-the-fly spike sorting and UWB tansmitter

Simultaneous neural signal recording from many neurons has a wide range of applications ranging from the study of the complex biological neural networks to brain controlled neural prostheses to treat spinal cord injuries by restoring limb movement. Wireless transmission of the recorded signals combined with on-chip neural spike sorting (a recording electrode senses the activity of an emsemble of neurons) is required for miniaturized and untethered neural recording systems. For neural prosthetic applications where the neural signals are translated to command signals for muscle stimulation, on-the-fly spike sorting and calibration is crucial for effective restoration of limb movement. Also, all these critical functions should be low power and wirelessly powered or operated on rechargeable battery. Recently reported ICs for neural recording have features of simultaneous multiple channel recording [2,3], wireless data telemetry (spike information for 100 channels and raw data for one channel) [4], on-chip spike detection [4,5]. But a fully-integrated IC with simultaneous recording, on-chip spike detection and sorting and versatile wireless telemetry (raw and compressed data) has not been reported yet. This paper presents one such system with the capability to record, process and wirelessly transmit multiple neural signals real-time.