Zydeco-Style Spike Sorting Low Power VLSI Architecture for IoT BCI Implants

Abstract: Brain Computer Interface (BCI) has great potential for solving many brain signal analysis limitations, mental disorder resolutions, and restoring missing limb functionality via neural-controlled implants. However, there is no single available, and safe implant for daily life usage exists yet. Most of the proposed implants have several implementation issues, such as infection hazards and heat dissipation, which limits their usability and makes it more challenging to pass regulations and quality control production. The wireless implant does not require a chronic wound in the skull. However, the current complex clustering neuron identification algorithms inside the implant chip consume a lot of power and bandwidth, causing higher heat dissipation issues and draining the implant's battery. The spike sorting is the core unit of an invasive BCI chip, which plays a significant role in power consumption, accuracy, and area. Therefore, in this study, we propose a low-power adaptive simplified VLSI architecture, "Zydeco-Style," for BCI spike sorting that is computationally less complex with higher accuracy that performs up to 93.5% in the worst-case scenario. The architecture uses a low-power Bluetooth Wireless communication module with external IoT medical ICU devices. The proposed architecture was implemented and simulated in Verilog. In addition, we are proposing an implant conceptual design.