Percutaneous Neural Implant Lead Anchoring Against Post-Deployment Migration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing neural implant delivery systems face challenges in securely positioning electrodes and preventing migration of neural implants post-deployment, leading to potential dislodgment and inefficiencies in nerve stimulation or sensing.
Innovation Solution
A neural implant system with a delivery device featuring a first and second needle, where the second needle has a higher gauge and a retaining portion with a resiliently biased anti-migration member, such as fins, tines, or hooks, to securely deploy and anchor the electrode lead in the patient's tissue, ensuring proper positioning and preventing migration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional delivery system is used to implant neural electrodes, then the implantation process can be completed, but the neural implant may migrate or dislodge post-deployment due to insufficient anchoring
Solution Approach 1:
The delivery device is divided into separate functional components: a first needle for housing delivery, a second needle for electrode deployment, and a pusher mechanism for actuation. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function efficiently while maintaining overall system reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The anti-migration member is pre-loaded in a compressed state within the delivery device, ready to be deployed immediately upon electrode placement. This preliminary preparation ensures that the anchoring action occurs precisely when needed, preventing any delay that could lead to implant migration.
2Manufacturing precision
If the second needle is made with a higher gauge for precise electrode positioning, then deployment accuracy improves, but the retaining portion becomes more complex to ensure secure anchoring
Solution Approach 1:
The second needle incorporates a retaining portion with a specific recess geometry at its tip, creating a localized anchoring zone. This localized structural feature provides precise electrode positioning and secure retention without requiring the entire needle structure to be complex.
Solution Approach 2:
The anti-migration member acts as an intermediary between the electrode lead and the tissue. It transfers the anchoring function from the needle to the tissue, allowing the needle to remain simple while achieving complex retention through the intermediary component.
3Reliability
If anti-migration members are added to prevent implant displacement, then post-deployment stability improves, but the device complexity and deployment procedure increase
Solution Approach 1:
The anti-migration member is integrated with the electrode lead structure, merging the anchoring function with the existing lead design. This integration reduces the number of separate components while maintaining the stability benefits of anti-migration features.
Solution Approach 2:
The resilient anti-migration member automatically engages with the tissue upon deployment through its own elastic properties, without requiring additional actuators or complex deployment mechanisms. The member's resilience provides self-actuating anchoring that simplifies the overall delivery system.
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 system effectively deploys and secures neural implants, reducing migration risks and enhancing the stability and efficacy of nerve stimulation or sensing by maintaining the implant's position post-deployment.
Implementation Method 1
The electrode lead comprises a resiliently biased anti-migration member aligned with the retaining portion of the second needle so as to be constrained before deployment, and wherein the resiliently biased anti-migration member is configured to move into a deployed position after retraction of the second needle
Data Source
AI summary
A neural implant system for percutaneous delivery of a neural implant (1) in a patient's tissue, the neural implant system includes a neural implant (1) having a housing portion (2) and an elongate electrode lead (3), and a delivery device (10) having a handle (11), a first needle (12) fixed to the handle and having a lumen adapted to receive the housing portion of the neural implant, a second needle (13) having a higher gauge than the first needle, the second needle comprising a retaining portion partially surrounding the elongate electrode lead and an open side extending at least partially along the length of the second needle, wherein the second needle is retractably mounted to the housing and retractable to deploy the electrode lead in the patient's tissue, wherein the electrode lead includes a resiliently biased anti-migration member (32) aligned with the retaining portion of the second needle so as to be constrained before deployment, and wherein the resiliently biased anti-migration member is configured to move into a deployed position after retraction of the second needle.