Algorithm and hardware considerations for real-time neural signal on-implant processing

Objective. Various on-workstation neural-spike-based brain machine interface (BMI) systems have reached the point of in-human trials, but on-node and on-implant BMI systems are still under exploration. Such systems are constrained by the area and battery. Researchers should consider the algorithm complexity, available resources, power budgets, CMOS technologies, and the choice of platforms when designing BMI systems. However, the effect of these factors is currently still unclear. Approaches. Here we have proposed a novel real-time 128 channel spike detection algorithm and optimised it on microcontroller (MCU) and field programmable gate array (FPGA) platforms towards consuming minimal power and memory/resources. It is presented as a use case to explore the different considerations in system design. Main results. The proposed spike detection algorithm achieved over 97% sensitivity and a smaller than 3% false detection rate. The MCU implementation occupies less than 3 KB RAM and consumes 31.5  µ W ch −1 . The FPGA platform only occupies 299 logic cells and 3 KB RAM for 128 channels and consumes 0.04  µ W ch −1 . Significance. On the spike detection algorithm front, we have eliminated the processing bottleneck by reducing the dynamic power consumption to lower than the hardware static power, without sacrificing detection performance. More importantly, we have explored the considerations in algorithm and hardware design with respect to scalability, portability, and costs. These findings can facilitate and guide the future development of real-time on-implant neural signal processing platforms.