Transdermal Power Transfer for Implanted Drug Delivery Devices using a Smart Needle and Refill Port

This paper describes a pair of micromachined components that work together for transdermal power (and data) transfer into implantable drug delivery devices. In particular, it describes a smart refill port that is electrically accessed with a mating, multi-pole, plug-in needle. These components are fabricated entirely from molded PDMS, Parylene, Kapton, and micro-electro-discharge machined stainless steel. The component pair demonstrates power transfer with low current leakage into both dry and saline ambient, and it has been used to recharge batteries with currents ranging from 10 mA up to 500 mA while temperature change is monitored.