A Versatile Hermetically Sealed Microelectronic Implant for Peripheral Nerve Stimulation Applications

Frontiers in Neuroscience

Fangqi Liu¹  Andreas Demosthenous¹  Dai Jiang¹  Matthew Schormans¹  Timothy A. Perkins²  Henry T. Lancashire²  Nicholas De N. Donaldson²  Anne Vanhoestenberghe³ 

[1] Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University College London, London, United Kingdom;Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, London, United Kingdom;Division of Surgery and Interventional Science, Aspire Centre for Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology, University College London, London, United Kingdom;

关键词: hermetic seal package;    implantable stimulator;    microelectronics;    power and data telemetry;    wireless stimulation control;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fnins.2021.681021

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

This article presents a versatile neurostimulation platform featuring a fully implantable multi-channel neural stimulator for chronic experimental studies with freely moving large animal models involving peripheral nerves. The implant is hermetically sealed in a ceramic enclosure and encapsulated in medical grade silicone rubber, and then underwent active tests at accelerated aging conditions at 100°C for 15 consecutive days. The stimulator microelectronics are implemented in a 0.6-μm CMOS technology, with a crosstalk reduction scheme to minimize cross-channel interference, and high-speed power and data telemetry for battery-less operation. A wearable transmitter equipped with a Bluetooth Low Energy radio link, and a custom graphical user interface provide real-time, remotely controlled stimulation. Three parallel stimulators provide independent stimulation on three channels, where each stimulator supports six stimulating sites and two return sites through multiplexing, hence the implant can facilitate stimulation at up to 36 different electrode pairs. The design of the electronics, method of hermetic packaging and electrical performance as well as in vitro testing with electrodes in saline are presented.

【 授权许可】

Unknown