Abstract
Wireless power transfer (WPT) for stent-based neuroprosthetic devices, such as endovascular electrocorticography (endoECoG) systems, is typically constrained by the need for long lead wires to subcutaneous chest implants. This study presents a method for delivering power directly to an unmodified medical stent. The proposed system employs a subcutaneous relay that converts inductive coupling to capacitive coupling, thereby improving power transfer efficiency, reducing invasiveness, and mitigating instability in skin-contact capacitance. Experimental validation using skin, bone, and vessel tissues, combined with finite element simulations, demonstrated over 45 mW of delivered power, sufficient for endoECoG and biosignal sensing. The proposed system achieved 7.26% DC-to-DC efficiency, the highest reported for stent-based implants without custom stents or auxiliary transceivers. Measured results closely matched simulations, validating the experiment results. Safety assessments, including specific absorption rate and thermal analysis, confirmed compliance with regulatory limits. While the experimental results indicate robust performance, further theoretical analysis is required to establish a complete mechanistic understanding of the underlying coupling processes. The proposed architecture enables efficient, safe, and fully wireless power delivery to endovascular implants without requiring close skin contact, supporting long-term implantation, enhancing patient comfort, and facilitating future clinical translation.
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Data availability
The data supporting the findings of this study are provided as Sim4Life simulation project files (including 3D model, simulation setup and solver settings). These files have been uploaded to the Nature Communications Engineering manuscript submission system as Supplementary Data and are available for download from the article record. The corresponding author, Omid Kavehei, will be responsible for responding to any questions regarding access or file use. The original working copy of the simulation project is currently stored on the University of Sydney’s SharePoint.
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Acknowledgements
The author acknowledges the financial support from the Australian Research Council under Project DP230100019. Australian Research Council under Project DP230100019.
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Z.X. conceived and conducted the study. Z.X. performed all experiments and drafted the manuscript. Z.X. analysed data and produced the figures. O.K. coordinated the study. O.K., N.T., A.N., and A.A. supervised the study. All authors read, revised and approved the manuscript.
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Communications Engineering thanks Hyoungsuk Yoo, Ali Kaleghi and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work. Primary Handling Editors: [Rosamund Daw]. A peer review file is available.
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Xu, Z., Truong, N.D., Ahnood, A. et al. A wireless power transfer system for leadless endovascular electrocorticography. Commun Eng (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44172-026-00617-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44172-026-00617-4
