Implantable Device Segmentation for Fluid Ingress
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current implantable medical devices face challenges in miniaturization due to the need for bulky feedthroughs and headers to prevent water ingress, which can lead to corrosion and malfunction, and existing designs are sensitive to fluid ingress, especially when electrodes and ASICs are positioned at the same longitudinal location.
Innovation Solution
The design features a flexible substrate with multiple encapsulated component positions along a longitudinal axis, allowing relative changes in disposition, such as separation, rotation, and pitch, to reduce mechanical stress and fluid ingress paths, using materials like Liquid Crystal Polymers (LCP) for hermeticity and flexibility, and incorporating fluid detectors for enhanced protection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If bulky feedthroughs and headers are incorporated to prevent water ingress, then reliability is improved, but device size increases
Solution Approach 1:
The device is divided into multiple encapsulated component positions along a longitudinal axis, with each position hermetically sealed independently. This segmentation allows the device to achieve reliable fluid protection through multiple small sealed regions rather than requiring one large bulk enclosure, thereby reducing overall device volume while maintaining or improving reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs flexible substrate materials that can be hermetically sealed to create protective encapsulation around components. These thin film encapsulations provide fluid protection without the bulk of traditional rigid enclosures, enabling miniaturization while maintaining reliability against fluid ingress.
2Device complexity
If electrodes and ASICs are positioned at the same longitudinal location, then device complexity is reduced, but sensitivity to fluid ingress increases
Solution Approach 1:
Electrodes and ASICs are positioned at different longitudinal locations along the device, with each component type housed in separately encapsulated positions. This spatial segmentation isolates sensitive electronic components from potential fluid exposure pathways, reducing sensitivity to fluid ingress while maintaining manageable device complexity through systematic arrangement.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the device are assigned different functional qualities - electrodes in one longitudinal region and ASICs in another - with each region hermetically sealed according to its specific protection requirements. This local differentiation optimizes fluid protection for each component type without requiring uniform complex encapsulation throughout the entire device.
3Reliability
If rigid encapsulation is used to protect components, then protection against fluid ingress is improved, but adaptability to anatomical shapes decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The encapsulation structure incorporates flexible substrate materials that can dynamically adapt their shape to conform to various anatomical surfaces. This dynamic flexibility allows the device to maintain hermetic protection while adapting to different implantation sites and anatomical geometries, resolving the contradiction between rigid protection and shape adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
Flexible substrate materials form the encapsulation layers that provide hermetic protection while inherently possessing the ability to bend and conform to anatomical shapes. These flexible thin films replace rigid enclosures, enabling both reliable fluid protection and adaptability to various implantation geometries simultaneously.
Data Source
AI summary
Implants must protect against implant contamination and corrosion of electronics. However, when electrical components are fitted to flexible substrates, failure can occur at electrical connections.An implant comprises: a flexible substrate; a first and second electrical component at a first and second position, electrically connected through an interconnect layer; a first and second component cover, separately encapsulating the first and second component to resist the ingress of body fluids into the component positions; wherein the flexible substrate allows a relative change in disposition between the first component cover and the second component cover. One or more electrodes are provided at a third position.By encapsulating each component separately, the position of force/tension is moved away from the component attachment position to a point somewhere between the component positions. By disposing one or more electrode away from the components, the ingress is further restricted.