cochlear implant electrodes

Abstract

The invention provides an artificial cochlear electrode. The artificial cochlear electrode comprises a plurality of electrode contacts which comprise tapered surfaces. The inner wall of each electrode contact is connected with an electrode wire, and the electrode contacts are arranged front and back successively along the artificial cochlear electrode implantation direction to form an electrode array which is packaged by silicone into a whole. The portions of the tapered surfaces of the electrode contacts exposed from the silicone are inclined, and the rear ends are more protruding than the front end. The electrode contacts and the electrode wires are insulated mutually. The electrode contacts are in semi-tapered-ring shapes and comprise grooves in semi-tapered-ring shapes. The electrode wires arranged in the front of the electrode contacts penetrate the grooves in semi-tapered-ring shapes of the electrode wires arranged behind, the electrode wires are converged to from an electrode beam, and the grooves in semi-tapered-ring shapes of the electrode contacts are communicated successively to from a channel for accommodating the electrode beam. The electrode array is in a micro bending shape. The stimulus of the artificial cochlear electrode to nervous tissues is centralized; electric field aliasing can be prevented effectively, and power consumption is reduced; resistance of the artificial cochlear electrode during implantation is reduced.

Description

technical field [0001] The invention relates to the technical field of bionics of biomedical engineering, in particular to a cochlear implant electrode. Background technique [0002] A cochlear implant is composed of implanted electrodes in the cochlea, a speech processor, a microphone and a transmission device. The sound is received by the microphone and converted into an electrical signal, and then transmitted to the speech processor to amplify and filter the signal, and then transmitted from the transmitter to the receiver. The generated electrical pulses are sent to the corresponding contacts, thereby stimulating the ganglion cells in the cochlea to excite the auditory nerve and transmit the sound information to the brain to produce hearing. [0003] The cochlear implant includes two parts: an external device and an internal implanted device. The signal transmission between the external device and the internal implanted device is completed by electromagnetic induction. T...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Contacts of these shapes have a large exposed area, which can easily cause the excitement of other nerves other than the auditory nerve, and the stimulation of the nerve tissue is not concentrated; it is also easy to generate electric field aliasing, resulting in large power consumption; in the direction of cochlear implantation The height of the front and rear end surfaces of the electrode contacts is the same, and they have the same shape, which will produce certain resistance to the implantation of cochlear implant electrodes.

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