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A Linear Permanent Magnet Generator for Powering Implanted Electronic Devices

Adel Nasiri, Senior Member, IEEE, Salaheddin A. Zabalawi, and Dean C. Jeutter, Life Senior Member, IEEE
AbstractPermanent magnet (PM) machines provide high efciency, compact size, robustness, lightweight, and low noise. These features qualify them as the best suitable machine for medical applications. The system presented in this paper is a self-contained, small size, and reliable device that can continuously provide power. The core of the system is a linear generator that consists of two layers of PMs and one layer of coils. It generates power from multidirectional body movements. The movement of the device causes the coil layer to move. The relative movement of the coils versus PMs, on two sides, creates a varying ux in the windings. This change in ux produces voltage in the winding and can be converted into electrical power if a load is connected. The best place to implement this device to produce continuous power is on a muscle inside the body that is linked to the respiratory system. Design, simulation, implementation, and testing of the generator are presented in this paper. The testing results reveal that the generator can produce up to 1 mW of power in the body. Index TermsImplanted electronic devices, linear permanentmagnet (PM) generator, motion energy harvesting, vibration energy harvesting.

I. INTRODUCTION ITH recent progress in medicine and device technologies, implanted devices are becoming an integrated part of medicine. They are being used widely to improve the quality of life and to prolong or save lives. Experts estimate that 8% 10% of Americans carry some type of implanted device in their body [1]. These devices are used for a variety of applications from regulating heart rates, controlling incontinence, helping in hearing, helping to restore control of paralyzed organs to curing depression. The sample devices include articial hearts, left ventricular assist devices (LVAD), debrillators, implanted muscles, neuromodulators, and pacemakers. There is also a new trend to use microcontrollers for nerve stimulation, blood ow monitoring, and telemetry systems. These implanted electronic devices require an appropriate power source. Currently, there are three methods to deliver

Manuscript received November 19, 2009; revised March 29, 2010 and June 14, 2010; accepted June 16, 2010. Date of current version December 27, 2010. Recommended for publication by Associate Editor J. A. Cobos. A. Nasiri is with the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 53211 USA (e-mail: nasiri@uwm.edu). S. A. Zabalawi was with the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 53201 USA. He is now with Honeywell Process Solutions, Al Turki Building, King Khalid Street, P. O. Box 7080 Dammam 31462, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. D. C. Jeutter is with Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI 53233 USA. Color versions of one or more of the gures in this paper are available online at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org. Digital Object Identier 10.1109/TPEL.2010.2055891

power to the implanted devices: implanted batteries, percutaneous systems, and transcutaneous systems. Cardiac pacemakers, e.g., have included primary batteries that provide a rather long operational lifetime of ve or more years because of a low duty cycle [2]. Similarly, cardiac debrillators require a power supply that comes from an implanted primary (nonrechargeable) battery [3]. Newer technologies and devices such as implantable muscle and nerve stimulators, implantable telemetry systems, and LVADs require more power than pacemakers and debrillators and, therefore, need a direct connection through the skin or an implanted secondary (rechargeable) battery, to offer a practical operating lifetime [4]. Traditionally, direct connections are made via a button connector that passes through the skin to the outside of the body. Experience has shown that this approach is undesirable because of the potential for infection, the high-maintenance cleaning situation, and the cosmetic inappropriateness in some applications [6]. Furthermore, a wired battery charging system cannot provide the patient with freedom of mobility from the power source. The very best power source for implanted electronics is one that is implanted with the electronics as a self-sufcient package. Recently, wireless transcutaneous power transfer (TPT) systems have been developed to remove the protruding wires and provide a better quality of life for the patients [4], [5]. This type of system has been utilized in newer models of LVAD systems and articial hearts. Experience has shown that TPT at radio frequencies can be a viable method for powering implanted electronic circuits and devices [4][6]. However, it does have several serious drawbacks and disadvantages [7], [8]. There are important biological and electronic disadvantages of TPT approaches. For example, 1) Inefcient power transfertypically the transcutaneous link between an external primary inductor placed on the skin and an implanted secondary coil is at best 25% efcient with coupling coefcients in the neighborhood of k = 0.2 with tissue separations of up to about 1.5 cm. 2) Potential tissue damagedepending on the projected area of the transmitter inductor (primary) and the delivered power level the power density on the skin surface may exceed recommended safety levels (e.g., 100 mW/cm2 ). There can be a noticeable temperature rise in the underlying tissues similar to heating by diathermy. Although this potential for tissue damage has not been well studied, it seems likely that long-term heating may result in tissue changes. 3) Need for a large internal batterysince there is a high chance that the power transfer system ceases to provide power to the internal device. This battery has large size and

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weight and short life. In addition, extra heat is generated during charging and discharging periods of the battery. 4) Subject is tetheredperhaps the greatest disadvantage of TPT is the need to restrain or tether the subject to external equipment. Depending on the capacity of the batteries and the drain from them by the connected implanted circuits, charging sessions may last several hours and may be required more than once each day. Needless to say, this is a very restrictive situation for a subject, and quality of life can be improved with a self-sufcient implanted complete power source, as described in this proposed work. Many energy harvesting systems have been developed in the recent years to capture energy from mechanical movements, including vibration-based microelectromechanical (MEMS) generators, piezoelectric materials, and electrostatic methods [9]. MEMS and piezoelectric materials are well suited for applications that require a small amount of power, typically below 1 W. Naturally, they require small-motion, high-force drives [10]. Additionally, their generated voltage is very small, their cost is high, and their energy density is low [9]. The electrostatic methods, in addition to the disadvantages mentioned earlier, need an external excitation. Some researchers have also worked on electroactive polymers for energy harvesting that are functionally similar to piezoelectric materials but are more exible [11]. They also have the same disadvantages. These types of systems are not applicable to be used inside the body and to produce power. There are other energy scavenging techniques such as from RF signals [23] and vibration [24] that cannot be used for this application. In this paper, design and implementation of an innovative implantable energy harvesting device to produce several milliwatts of power from abdominal body movement is presented. The core of this system is a miniaturized linear permanent magnet (PM) generator that converts the multidirectional movement to electrical power. The generator will be attached to a muscle inside the body and will convert the mechanical energy to electrical energy to power the implanted devices. Due to recent developments in power electronics devices and systems, PM machines are nding many applications in various elds, including automotive systems and renewable energy [14], [15], [21]. These machines provide high efciency, compact size, robustness, light weight, and low noise [16]. These features qualify them as the best suitable machine for medical applications. Linear PM machines have also been used in various high performance applications [17]. The system presented here is a self-contained, small size, and reliable device that can continuously provide power. The linear generator will have two layers of PMs and one layer of coil. It will create power from multidirectional movement. The device will be encapsulated and implanted on the abdominal wall muscle. The movement of the device will cause the middle coil layer to move. The relative movement of the coil versus PMs on two sides creates a varying ux in the windings. This change in ux produces voltage in the winding and can be converted into electrical power if a load is connected. In order to provide a continuous power source, the muscle used in this system must not stop working. The best option for

Fig. 1.

(a) Front and (b) side views of the diaphragm muscle.

such a system is to use a muscle that is linked to respiratory system. Some of these muscles are accessible without having to tap into the windpipes themselves. There are many potential locations in the human body for implantation of the proposed device. The primary target location is the abdominal wall, due to continuous movement, sufcient travel distance, and small surgical risks. The size of the power generator alone is targeted to be one cubic inch with a weight around 2 oz. The design goal of the proposed system is to generate milliwatts of power from abdominal wall movement due to respiratory movement. However, if the patient is active, higher levels of power can be achieved from body movement. II. BODY MOVEMENTS AND GENERATOR POSITIONING One of the possible locations for generator implantation is on the diaphragm muscle mainly, because the diaphragm muscle is a strong and continuously active muscle even when the person is asleep. In addition, absolute excursion of the diaphragm domes is around 4.4 cm, which can be a reliable vibration source for the generator [18]. A respiratory rate of 1618 cycles/min in healthy human subjects is also available to create movement for the generator. Analysis of diaphragmatic displacement at different locations in [18] revealed a gradient of excursion that increased from anterior to middle to posterior. Fig. 1 shows a front view of the diaphragm showing the seven sagittal locations and a side view showing the anteroposterior positions (A, D, and P). On images in which the diaphragm is at its highest position (end of expiration), the coordinates of the three points are: at the dome (D), halfway between the dome and the anterior costophrenic angle (A), and halfway between the dome and the posterior costophrenic angle (P). These three points (A, D, and P) are selected to divide the diaphragm into thirds. The coordinates at the same anteroposterior positions as A, D, and P are then identied along the diaphragm on the images in which the diaphragm was at its lowest position (end of inspiration), and the difference in cephalocaudal displacement at each anteroposterior position is calculated. Absolute diaphragmatic displacement is determined by measuring the distance between the highest point on the diaphragm at the end of expiration and the highest point on the diaphragm at the end of inspiration. The diaphragm is also divided into seven sagittal locations that intersect with the three thirds (A, D, and P), making the diaphragm as a grid. The best

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Fig. 4.

Schematic of the nal version of the generator.

fundamental force equation of the system can be written as

Fig. 2. Conguration of the diaphragm as a grid.

F =m

d2 X dt2

(1)

F is the total force applied to the winding in the horizontal direction and m is the mass of the winding layer. X(t) represents the horizontal position of the center of the mass versus a stationary reference. Equation (1) can be expanded to mg Sin + K Sin + FEM F = m d2 X dt2 (2)

Fig. 3. Schematic cross section of the subfascial pocket for the linear PM generator (modied from [13] with permission).

location that has the maximum amount of absolute motion along this grid is identied for generator implantation. Fig. 2 shows the greatest absolute excursion happening at the darkest blocks on the diaphragm grid where the device could be implanted. Due to some concerns about the sensitivity of the diaphragm muscle and the risk of scratching it during the surgical operation and, also, loading it with extra weight, another suggested implant location is the abdominal wall. The device could be placed in a pocket formed under the fascial layers of the rectus abdominus and external oblique muscles. The linea semilunaris, the tendinous raphe between these muscles is divided to allow enough space for the device, as shown in Fig. 3. III. SYSTEM ANALYTICAL EQUATIONS The schematic of the generator and its movement scheme are shown in Fig. 4. The whole generator system is attached to body organ. The movements of the generator result in a relative movement of the winding versus magnets. It creates a varying ux in the winding and a voltage on windings terminals. The

K is the spring stiffness on side movements, and F EM F is the electromagnetic force from winding current and PMs. If L(t) is considered as the horizontal position of the generator system versus a stationary reference and if we suggest that the whole system moves along with body organs, L(t) will be of sinusoidal form. Considering D(t) as the horizontal distance of winding mass from the center of the generator and replacing X(t) with L(t) + D(t), we will have the following: mg Sin + K Sin + FEM F = m d2 D d2 L +m 2 . dt2 dt (3)

Noting D = R Sin , (3) is converted to mg D d2 D d2 L D + K + FEM F = m 2 + m 2 R R dt dt (4)

R is the height of the center of mass in rest position and is shown in Fig. 4. If we consider a resistive load for the system, the voltage will be proportional to current and FEM F will be proportional to winding speed. FEM F = dD dt (5)

where is a constant. Combining (4) and (5), we will have m d2 D dD d2 L 1 m 2 . = (mg + K)D + dt2 R dt dt (6)

A mechanical and an electrical equivalent system can be considered to represent (6) as depicted in Fig. 5 [28].

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Fig. 5. Mechanical and electrical representation of the generator system, (a) mechanical schematic of the system and (b) its electrical equivalent system.

If the motion of whole generator system is considered as quasi-sinusoidal, we will have L(t) = L0 + Lm Sin t. (7)

The resonance frequency of the system is o = (mg + K)/mR. To maximize the mechanical power, this frequency must match the excitation frequency of the system. The amplitude of the sinusoidal excitation to the system is described by Fm ax = mLm 2 . (8)

The maximum power of the mechanical system at = o can be expressed as

2 Fm ax . (9) 2 During resonance, the speed of the winding can also be calculated from the following:

Pm ax =

dD(t) Fm ax Cos t = dt and D(t)

(10)

Fm ax Sin t . (11) An optimal value for creates a maximum distance travel of Dm ax when F m ax is applied. Therefore, D(t) = Opt = mLm . Dm ax (12)

where Opt is the optimal value of . Combining (8)(11), we can get Pm ax = mLm 3 Dm ax . 2 (13)

IV. GENERATOR DESIGN The designed generator is a magnetic induction system that generates power through relative motion between a coil and a magnet. The design of the structure of the generator in terms of air gap, number of PMs in each direction, magnet sizing,

coil placement, number of turns for coils, and mechanical restrictions of the coil layer was performed using analytical and simulation modeling. The overall size of the generator is limited by the space provided in the abdominal wall. The ultimate goal of the design is to maximize the power of the generator with a given size. The design procedure is an optimization process to maximize the output power for a given size and given load. The optimum value for the load to generate maximum power can be calculated when = Opt . However, a 1-k resistor has been considered as the load to simulate the case for a neurostimulator. The air gap is sized to allow for maximum travel distance for the winding mass. The magnetic material is neodymium iron boron to provide the highest ux density. The magnets are arranged so that they change the ux direction in the winding from maximum positive to maximum negative in half oscillation. The coil area is designed to maximize the ux utilization from the magnets. The relative speed of the winding versus positions of the magnets is very small due to a low-frequency mechanical excitation. Therefore, the number of turns of the winding must be large to generate a sufcient magnitude of voltage. Although, by increasing the number of turns, the winding resistance and leakage inductance increases. Selection of the appropriate spring for the system is a recursive process. The nal choice must have a stiffness that allows for maximum travel of the winding between magnets. It is made of nonmagnetic materials. The conguration of the nal design is shown in Fig. 4. Both PM layers (stator) are attached to two layers of iron to provide a return path for the ux. These two layers are secured to the structure of the device and are stationary relative to the device. The coil layer is secured to the enclosure on two springs. When the muscle moves, the movement is transferred to the coil layer, which will oscillate between two PM layers. Coil movement results in a ux change in the coil, which translates into induced voltage on the coil. The individual coils are placed in series to provide a higher voltage at the terminal. To arrive at the nal generator conguration, three initial prototypes were implemented and tested. The generator architecture, including dimensions of iron, PMs, coils, and air gaps were evaluated considering the practical requirements to maximize the output power of the generator. For instance, a smaller air gap helps in generation of higher magnitude of ux and, consequently, higher output voltage. However, the air gap must be large enough to provide space for reliable movement of the coil. The fundamental limitation for the generator is the size. The size requirement limits the number of coil turns and the maximum distance that the mass can travel. Since a low damping factor is required to maximize the power generation, the design must allow for large deections of the mass (coil). In the nal system, the coils experience complete ux reversals, and thus the voltage generated is maximized. The frequency of ux reversals can be increased by using multiple NS magnet pairs. Two earlier prototypes did not allow for maximum winding travel. Modications were made to adjust the spring stiffness, magnet placement, air gap length, coil number of turns, and ux path to create a complete ux reversal for a 0.3-Hz mechanical excitation with Lm of 2 cm. The nal prototype overcame most

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Fig. 7. Fig. 6. Assembled nal generator structure.

Magnetic ux density of the generator modeled by MagNet software.

of the previous designs problems. It is a 1.70 in3 body that consists of two metallic stator sides and one layer of coils. The coils were made manually in the lab from a 38 AWG wire with a resistance of 25 for each coil. The generator has two 300 wireturns coils. When the two coils move in the magnetic eld with the same motion prole, the induced voltages on two windings are completely in phase. Therefore, connecting the two coils in series helps doubling the output voltage of the generator. Eight neodymium magnets were mounted on the stator; four on top and four at the bottom. The magnets on both stator sides were placed so that the coils at the neutral position experience the minimum possible ux in order to achieve full ux reversal when the coils travel against the four magnet poles [22]. The coils were mounted on a plastic pad oating on two low stiffness parallel springs. The springs were also bonded onto another plastic pad and fastened to the lower plate. The structure of the nal assembly is shown in Fig. 6. The two stator sides are separated with four nonmagnetic standoffs and eight adjustment nuts for air gap calibration. The air gap was calibrated carefully in order to achieve an unrestricted coil motion with the highest magnetic eld density possible. When coils move, they do not only move horizontally, it is a two components semicircular motion, as shown in Fig. 4. The generator harvests the maximum energy when the excitation direction is perpendicular to the line at which the two springs are placed in parallel (X-direction). However, this does not mean that the generator has an output of zero volts when it is excited along the parallel springs, the output voltage is just much less. Practically, it was found that the amount of voltage produced when moving along the Y -direction is six times less than when moving along the X-direction. The generator was simulated using MagNet and Ansys software for magnetic analysis. Fig. 7 shows the magnetic ux density in the generator structure. This model was used to simulate the system and calculate the output power. The ux density between the magnets, which is cut by the windings, is around 0.12 T. The arrows show the direction and relative density of the ux. Fig. 8 shows the output voltage of one winding. Output voltage has a frequency of 4.5 Hz with a mechanical excitation

Fig. 8.

Output voltage of the generator modeled by MagNet software.

of 0.5 Hz. The magnetic loss and high-frequency copper loss is small since there is no saturation in magnetic materials [20]. V. TEST RESULTS The generator was tested under different conditions including movement at different frequency and amplitude, resonance frequency test, and walking test. The coil was terminated with a 1-k resistor. The generator was placed on a board placed on a wheel. The other end of the board was glued to the diaphragm of a speaker. The audio speaker was used to model the abdominal body motion. Exciting the speaker with a function generator and amplier with different frequency and amplitude resulted in different motion proles for the speaker diaphragm. The test bench is shown in Fig. 9. A. Natural Frequency Test The generator was loaded and its terminal voltage was monitored when the excitation frequency was swept from 0.1 to 6 Hz. It was found the system has a resonance frequency near 0.3 Hz. The output voltage reduces when the excitation frequency moves away from this frequency. It provides 1.1 mW of power at this frequency. At frequencies of 0.2 and 0.5 Hz, the peak of output voltage drops to 1 from 1.5 V at 0.31 Hz. The peak output voltage drops to 0.7 V at 0.1-Hz and 0.9 V at 6-Hz

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Fig. 9.

Picture of the test bench for the system.

Fig. 12. Transient response: the voltage waveforms of two windings and total generator output voltage (vertical axis: 500 mV/div; horizontal axis: 2.5 ms/div).

Fig. 10. Voltage of each coil and total voltage of the generator at excitation frequency of 0.31 Hz (vertical axis: 500 mV/div; horizontal axis: 250 ms/div).

Fig. 13.

Generator connected to the waistline.

Fig. 14. Rectied output voltage of the generator with a load of 1 k at mechanical excitation frequency of (vertical axis: 500 mV/div; horizontal axis: 2.5 s/div). Fig. 11. Diaphragm muscle excitation frequency test result (vertical axis: 500 mV/div; horizontal axis: 250 ms/div).

B. Diaphragm Muscle Excitation Frequency Test This test was performed to evaluate the generator performance for excitation frequencies that match the frequency at which the abdominal body muscle moves. The abdominal muscles move with a frequency of around 0.3 Hz in a normal human being. The audio speaker was adjusted to provide a linear displacement

excitation frequencies. Fig. 10 shows the voltage of each coil and total voltage of the generator when two coils are placed in series. The total load is 1 k. The voltage on two windings are not identical due differences in number of turns and placement of coils and magnets.

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Fig. 15.

Output voltage generated during human walking motion.

of 2 cm. The generator was connected to a 1-k resistive load. The voltage of each coil and total voltage of the generator for this case with an excitation frequency of 0.25 Hz are shown in Fig. 11. The output voltage is around 1.2 Vp-p .

VI. FUTURE WORK A. Implant Packaging and Device Implantation The ultimate goal is to implant the generator inside a human body. The ultimate implantation location is shown in Fig. 3. The linear generator will be implanted onto the abdominal wall between external and internal oblique muscles. A power electronics interface and passive telemetry system will be packaged together and will be implanted in the lower left part of the abdomen right under the skin. Existing established techniques for device encapsulation will be used to minimize the possibility of adverse tissue reaction (the system must be monitored in vitro and in vivo for temperature rise, generator, and power electronics performance). B. Wireless Data Transmission In order to monitor the operation of the implanted power generation system, a transcutaneous data transfer system is planned to be developed to send data from the internal system through a wireless serial link to an external control and monitoring system. C. Design and Implementation of Power Interface and Signal Conditioning Circuitry A power electronics interface must be designed to dynamically optimize the match between the generator and load, allowing the PM generator to operate at the point of maximum power transfer. This maximum power operating point will be achieved by adjusting the generator current in order to control the electromagnetic forces between coil layer and PMs and, consequently, control the coil layer travel distance. VII. CONCLUSION Design, simulation, and implementation of a power generator to capture power from abdominal body movement due to respiratory motions were presented in this paper. The ultimate goal of this generator is to power implanted electronics devices. The nal generator conguration was designed to be capable of generating up to 1 mW of instantaneous electric power. The natural frequency of the generator system was practically found to be 0.31 Hz. Also, it was found that at high excitation magnitudes, the output voltage waveform changes from a sinusoidal to a triangular shape. The output peak-to-peak voltage generated from

C. Transient Test Fig. 12 shows the voltage of two coils and total voltage of the generator during transient from standstill to full vibration. Due to asymmetrical relative movement during transient state, the voltages of coils behave differently.

D. Human Body Motion Test This test was performed to evaluate the generator output voltage when it is attached to the human body. The generator produces power from body movement caused by walking. This type of excitation will help the generator to produce more power in addition to movement caused by respiratory movement. It provides mechanical excitations with greater frequencies than that of abdominal body movement. The generator output terminals were connected to a rectier circuit and a load of 1 k via long wires. The oscilloscope was connected across the load. The generator was xed to a persons waistline with a belt, as shown in Fig. 13. A full-wave rectier circuit is used that utilizes Schottky diodes that were found to have low turn on voltage and fast switching time. Due to the low-generator peak output voltage, it was very important to choose a diode that has a very low forward bias voltage. The diode used to build the rectier bridge is LSM115J, which has under 0.1V forward voltage drop at currents under 1.5 mA. The drawback of reducing the forward bias voltage is increasing the reverse leakage current. The forward bias voltage of around 150 mV for the full bridge occurs at a load current of 1 mA. A low-operating voltage boost converter can also be used to boost the output voltage of generator [19]. Fig. 14 shows the rectied voltage of the generator for a load of 1 k. The generated output voltage waveform was logged into a le. The data points were plotted as shown in Fig. 15. The instantaneous power points were calculated from the waveform and, then, were integrated over 22.5 s to nd the energy. The energy scavenged during 22.5 s of walking is 9 mJ.

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motion along the X-direction is approximately six times more than the output peak-to-peak voltage generated from motion along the Y -direction. The generator was placed on the waistline of a person to determine the energy scavenged from walking motion. The total energy harvested in 22.5 s was calculated to be 9 mJ. REFERENCES
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Adel Nasiri (M04SM06) was born in Sari, Iran, in 1974. He received the B.S. and M.S. degrees from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, in 1996 and 1998, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree from Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL, in 2004, all in electrical engineering. From 1998 to 2001, he was with Moshanir Power Engineering Company, Tehran, Iran. From 2004 to 2005, he was with ForHealth Technologies, Inc., Daytona Beach, FL, where he was engaged in research on an automated syringe lling device. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he is also the Director at the Power Electronics and Electric Motor Drives Laboratory. He is a coauthor of a book entitled Uninterruptible Power Supplies and Active Filters (Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2004) and the author of numerous journal papers and conference presentations. His current research interests include power electronics converters, renewable energy systems, and electric motor drives. Dr. Nasiri is the Chair of the IEEE Milwaukee Industry Applications Society/Industrial Electronics Society Chapter, a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Electric Power Components and Systems, an Associate Editor of the International Journal of Power Electronics, and a member of the scientic and editorial board of the International Journal of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles.

Salaheddin A. Zabalawi received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from the American University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, in 2006, and the M.S. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, in 2008. From 2006 to 2008, he was a Teaching Assistant and a Researcher in the Department of Electrical and Computer Science, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He is currently a Certied Systems Engineer at Honeywell Process Solutions, where he is engaged in research on wireless eld instrumentations.

Dean C. Jeutter (S65M67SM91LSM10) received the MSBME and BSEE degrees, the Ph.D. degree in biomedical engineering from Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, in 1970, 1967, and 1974, respectively. During 19741976, he was a Post Doctoral Fellow in reproductive biology at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. He is currently a Professor of biomedical and electrical engineering at Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, where he is engaged in teaching and research on biomedical engineering, radio frequency applications. He holds ten patents. Prof. Jeutter is a Senior Member of the Biomedical Engineering Society, a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Wisconsin, a Charter Board Member of the AEMB, a Faculty Advisor of AEMB, Marquette University Chapter, and a Board Member of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Annual Great Lakes Bioengineering Conference.