Development of a bidirectional transcutaneous optical data transmission system for artificial hearts allowing long-distance data communication with low electric power consumption.

We have developed a wavelength division bidirectional transcutaneous optical data transmission system using amplitude shift keying (ASK) modulation. The bidirectional optical data transmission system consists of two kinds of light emitting diodes (LEDs) having different wavelengths and an ASK modulator and demodulator. Two narrow directional visible LEDs with a peak output wavelength of 590 nm were used to transmit data from inside the body to outside the body, and a narrow directional near-infrared LED with a peak output wavelength of 940 nm was used for transmission from outside the body to inside the body. The ASK modulator employs a carrier pulse signal (50 kHz) to support a maximum data transmission rate of 9600 bps. An in vitro experiment showed that the maximum tissue thickness of near-infrared optical data transmission without error was 45 mm; the figure was 20 mm for visible optical data transmission. There was no interference between the signals under full-duplex data transmission. Electric power consumption for the data transmission links was 122 mW for near-infrared light and 162 mW (81 mW x 2) for visible light. From the above results, a bidirectional transcutaneous optical data transmission system promises adequate performance for monitoring and control of an artificial heart.