Implantable Cuff Electrode Arrangement for Selective Nerve Fiber Stimulation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing therapeutic measures for arterial hypertension often result in significant side effects and fail to achieve adequate target blood pressure in up to 30% of patients, highlighting the need for alternative treatments that can selectively target and stimulate blood pressure-relevant nerve fibers.
Innovation Solution
An implantable electrode arrangement that includes a cuff electrode with a biocompatible carrier substrate and a dual electrode system, allowing for spatially-selective detection and stimulation of neuronal electrical signals in nerve fibers, while inhibiting unidirectional signal transfer along efferent nerve fibers to minimize side effects.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional blood pressure medication is administered, then blood pressure is reduced, but significant side effects occur and target blood pressure is not achieved in up to 30% of patients
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces pharmacological chemical action with electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve. Instead of using blood pressure-lowering drugs that cause side effects, the invention uses an implantable electrode arrangement to deliver electrical signals to specific nerve fibers, substituting a mechanical/electrical system for a chemical one.
Solution Approach 2:
The electrode arrangement features multiple electrode structures with different polarities (anodal and cathodal) arranged in specific patterns around the nerve fascicle. This creates localized electrical fields that selectively stimulate or inhibit specific nerve fibers while leaving others unaffected, enabling precise control without systemic side effects.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the electrode arrangement stimulates baroreceptive nerve fibers, then blood pressure is reduced with minimal side effects, but selective stimulation requires complex electrode structures
Solution Approach 1:
The electrode arrangement is divided into multiple discrete electrode structures (first, second, third electrode structures) with different functions. Each structure contains multiple electrode surfaces that can be independently controlled, allowing selective stimulation of specific nerve fiber groups while avoiding unwanted effects on others.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a signal generator as an intermediary device that processes and delivers precisely controlled electrical signals to the electrode arrangement. This intermediary enables complex stimulation patterns to be achieved through software control rather than requiring equally complex hardware structures.
3Measurement precision
If the carrier substrate surface is made straight and cylinder-shaped, then spatially-selective detection and stimulation is enabled, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The carrier substrate is formed as a cylinder-shaped structure that can be placed around the nerve fascicle in a cuff configuration. This curved geometry naturally conforms to the cylindrical shape of nerves, providing consistent contact and precise spatial positioning without requiring high-precision flat surface manufacturing.
Solution Approach 2:
The carrier substrate is made as a thin, flexible structure that can be bent into a cylindrical shape and wrapped around the nerve fascicle. This flexibility allows the substrate to adapt to the nerve's geometry while maintaining precise electrode positioning, reducing manufacturing precision requirements compared to rigid 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
The electrode arrangement effectively reduces blood pressure with minimal side effects, such as bradycardia and bradypnoea, by selectively stimulating baroreceptive nerve fibers and inhibiting efferent nerve fiber stimulation, thus providing a more targeted and gentle treatment approach.
Implementation Method 1
spatially-selective detection of neuronal electrical signals, which propagate along at least one nerve fiber
Implementation Method 2
selective electrical stimulation of the at least one selected nerve fiber
Implementation Method 3
inhibiting unidirectional signal transfer along efferent nerve fibers
Data Source
AI summary
An implantable electrode arrangement provides spatially-selective detection of neuronal electrical signals, which propagate along at least one nerve fiber contained in a nerve fascicle, and for selective electrical stimulation of the at least one nerve fiber, comprising a biocompatible carrier substrate, which has at least one carrier substrate region that can be placed around the nerve fascicle in a cuff and has a straight cylinder-shaped carrier substrate surface which faces the nerve fascicle in the implanted state. The carrier substrate surface has an axial extension and an extension oriented circumferentially in a direction and a first electrode arrangement attached thereto. The electrode arrangement comprises in an axial sequence, at least three first electrode structures with at least two first electrode surfaces arranged in the circumferentially, and at least two spaced first electrode strips, displayed in the axial direction which extend circumferentially which are in a ring shape, which encloses the at least three electrode structures on both sides in the axial direction. The electrodes are connectable or are connected to a signal detector and generator.