Conformal Electrode Arrays for Minimally Invasive Visual Prosthesis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current techniques for localizing and treating electrical lesions in the brain, such as imaging modalities, EEG, ECoG, and depth electrodes, face limitations in spatial and temporal resolution, invasiveness, and the ability to provide therapeutic electrophysiologic intervention, especially for deep brain structures.
Innovation Solution
The use of conformal electrode arrays deployed in intracranial cavities, such as the cerebral ventricles and venous sinuses, allows for precise, patterned stimulation of visual pathways, enabling the restoration and augmentation of vision by generating visual percepts in response to visual input.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If conventional imaging modalities (MRI, CT) are used to localize electrical lesions, then noninvasive examination is achieved, but temporal resolution is lacking and no therapeutic intervention is possible
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines imaging, recording, and stimulation functions into a single integrated system. The electrode array serves both as a diagnostic tool (recording electrical activity) and a therapeutic device (delivering stimulation), eliminating the need for separate procedures and enabling real-time feedback and intervention.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary electrode array that can be positioned between the brain tissue and external devices. This intermediary allows for minimally invasive access to deep brain structures while enabling both recording and stimulation functions, serving as a bridge between noninvasive imaging and direct neural intervention.
2Loss of time
If EEG is used to detect electrical activity, then excellent temporal resolution is achieved, but spatial resolution is limited due to physical distance and dielectric properties
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from the one-dimensional scalp surface (conventional EEG) to a three-dimensional intracranial position. By placing the electrode array within the cerebral ventricles, the system gains direct access to deep brain structures, effectively adding spatial dimensions to the measurement and overcoming the limited spatial resolution of scalp-based techniques.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses the cerebral ventricular system as an intermediary pathway to access deep brain structures. This intermediary allows the electrode array to be positioned close to target areas (such as the visual cortex or optic radiations) without requiring direct penetration of brain tissue, thereby improving spatial resolution while maintaining minimally invasive characteristics.
3Measurement precision
If ECoG is used to map electrical activity, then improved spatial resolution is achieved by placing electrodes on cortical surface, but craniotomy and surgical removal of skull are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses the cerebral ventricular system as an intermediary to access deep brain structures without requiring craniotomy. The electrode array is delivered through the ventricles, which are already present anatomical pathways, thereby avoiding the need for complex skull removal surgery while still achieving high spatial resolution through direct contact with deep neural tissue.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of approaching the brain from the outside through craniotomy (conventional ECoG approach), the patent inverts the approach by accessing deep brain structures from the inside through the ventricular system. This inversion eliminates the need for skull removal while maintaining the ability to map electrical activity with high spatial precision.
4Measurement precision
If depth electrodes are placed to record electrical activity, then high spatial and temporal precision is achieved, but irreversible damage or destruction of neurons occurs along electrode trajectory
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses the cerebral ventricular system as a fluid-filled intermediary pathway to access deep brain structures. By delivering the electrode array through the ventricles rather than penetrating brain tissue directly, the system achieves high spatial precision while avoiding irreversible damage to neurons along the insertion trajectory.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical penetration approach (drilling through brain tissue to place depth electrodes) with a fluid-based delivery mechanism. The electrode array is advanced through the fluid-filled ventricular system, substituting mechanical tissue penetration with a non-invasive fluid pathway to achieve the same spatial precision without causing neural damage.
5Volume of moving object
If conventional depth electrodes are used to stimulate deep brain structures, then access to deep targets is achieved, but only small volumes of tissue can be stimulated with limited precision
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from one-dimensional linear depth electrodes to a two-dimensional conformal array that lines the ventricular surface. This dimensional expansion allows the system to access and stimulate multiple deep brain structures simultaneously while maintaining precise control over the stimulation volume through the conformal geometry of the array.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent divides the ventricular surface into multiple segments with independently controllable electrode groups. This segmentation allows for precise, patterned stimulation of specific deep brain targets (such as different regions of the visual cortex or optic radiations) while maintaining access to the entire ventricular system and its surrounding structures.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach provides high spatial and temporal precision in electrical stimulation, minimizing tissue damage and enabling extensive access to deep brain structures, thus effectively restoring or augmenting vision by stimulating neural activity in the visual pathways.
Implementation Method 1
conformal electrode arrays deployed in intracranial cavities... generates electrical fields to stimulate neural activity in the visual pathways
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to a method of generating visual percepts using conformal electrode arrays. The electrode arrays can be placed into the ventricular system or cerebral venous sinuses, which function as minimally invasive techniques for precise spatial and temporal localization of electrical activity within the brain, and precise electrical stimulation of brain tissue, to diagnose and restore function in conditions caused by abnormal electrical activity in the brain. The disclosure further comprises a system for using these arrays to generate time-varying electric fields to stimulate the visual pathways of the brain, including the optic radiations and the occipital cortex, in ways that lead to visual perception.