A Comparison of Two and Three Dimensional Dipole Antennas for an Implantable Retinal Prosthesis

The feasibility is investigated using three dimensional folded dipole antennas as a data-telemetry implantable receiving antenna in a dual-unit retinal prosthesis to restore partial vision to the blind. Three dimensional designs are explored in an effort to enhance certain antenna characteristics such as bandwidth and maximum gain while reducing the planar footprint size in comparison to its two dimensional equivalent. The current vector alignment between the three dimensional layers are examined through folding and rotating the dipole arms with respect to each other to fully optimize the antenna's characteristics. The performance of the 2D and 3D antennas were compared in simulations and further examined by fabricating and characterizing the performance in a transmit/ receive system in air and inside eye phantoms. Results show that three-dimensional antennas can provide larger bandwidth while being physically smaller than the correspondent two-dimensional ones, thus providing larger channel capacity that could lead to a system with an increased number of stimulating electrodes.