Implantable Lead Termination with Woven Conductive Interface
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing lead terminations for implantable medical devices, such as those used for nerve stimulation, face challenges in achieving high mechanical flexibility and minimizing mechanical stress on the target organ, leading to potential inflammation and inefficient electrical stimulation due to stiffness and non-uniform contact.
Innovation Solution
The use of conductive wires woven, embroidered, or knitted onto a substrate to create a deformable interface that can be wrapped around the organ, allowing for precise matching of the organ's surface and incorporation of passive electrical components like resistors, capacitors, and antennas directly into the lead termination.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If a conventional rigid lead termination is used, then structural stability is improved, but mechanical flexibility and contact adaptability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The lead termination is constructed as a flexible printed circuit board (FPC) with a thin, flexible substrate that can conform to the irregular surface of the target organ. The FPC structure provides both mechanical flexibility for adaptation and structural stability for reliable electrical connections, resolving the contradiction between rigidity and flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The lead termination uses composite construction combining flexible polymer substrate with conductive trace patterns. This composite structure integrates the flexibility of polymer materials with the electrical conductivity and structural integrity of metal traces, achieving both adaptability and stability simultaneously.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the lead termination is made more flexible, then contact adaptability is improved, but mechanical strength and structural integrity worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The FPC structure uses a thin flexible substrate that provides excellent conformability to organ surfaces while maintaining sufficient mechanical strength through the layered construction and anchoring mechanisms described in the patent.
Solution Approach 2:
The combination of flexible polymer base material with embedded conductive trace patterns creates a composite structure where the polymer provides flexibility and the metal traces provide structural reinforcement and electrical conductivity, achieving both adaptability and strength.
3Adaptability or versatility
If passive components are integrated into the lead termination, then device functionality is improved, but manufacturing complexity worsens
Solution Approach 1:
Passive electronic components are integrated directly into the FPC structure by forming their conductive patterns using the same printing and etching processes used for the electrical traces. This merging of component fabrication with circuit board manufacturing eliminates separate assembly steps and reduces overall manufacturing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The FPC manufacturing process is designed to produce both electrical connection traces and passive electronic components using the same multi-layer printing and etching techniques. This universal approach allows a single manufacturing line to produce integrated circuits and passive components simultaneously, improving functionality without proportionally increasing manufacturing complexity.
Data Source
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AI summary
The lead comprises a distal termination adapted to come into contact with the tissues of the organ, this termination comprising an insulating substrate (28) and at least one conductive interface carried by the substrate. The conductive interface comprises at least one deformable wire (48) with a woven, embroidered, braided or knitted configuration for anchoring the deformable wire (48) to the substrate (28). This woven, embroidered, braided or knitted configuration comprises a pattern (52, 54) imparting a passive component electrical function (C) to the at least one deformable conductive wire. The passive component may be a resistor, a capacitor, an RF antenna, an inductor, and several of these components may be combined to form devices such as a transformer or a filter.