No description available.

After nearly a decade of development, human-implantable sensors for detection of muscle activity have recently been demonstrated in the literature. The implantable sensors are powered and communicate wirelessly through the skin using coupled inductor coils. The focus of the present work has been the development of a new approach to modeling the inductively coupled link by using the finite element method (FEM) to simulate a three-dimensional representation of the coils and surrounding magnetic field. The validity of the simulation is tested by comparison to analytically-developed formulas for self-inductance, ac resistance and mutual inductance of the coils. Determination of these parameters is necessary for calculation of the coupling coefficient between the coils, and to fully define the lumped circuit model of the link. This 3D FEM approach is novel and attractive because it is able to encompass physical geometric parameters and material properties that have been traditionally been a challenge to determine. In particular the contribution of a ferrite-core, and the case of non-symmetrical relative coil positioning can be evaluated. / Graduate