Percutaneous Access Devices for Transdermal Power and Data Transmission
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current surgical paradigms for limb amputation discard tissue potentially useful for neural prosthetic control and lack technology to restore proprioceptive feedback, leading to pain and inefficiencies in prosthetic use due to inadequate power and information transmission across the skin.
Innovation Solution
The development of a system that mechanically couples agonist-antagonist muscle pairs across sliding surfaces in the residual limb, providing proprioceptive feedback and using percutaneous access devices for transdermal electrical communication to restore natural muscle control and alleviate pain by even load distribution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If wireless transmission is used to transmit power and information across the skin, then ease of operation is improved, but power transmission efficiency and bit rate deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces percutaneous access devices as intermediary structures that penetrate the skin to establish wired connections between implanted devices and external systems. These devices serve as mediators that enable efficient power and data transmission while maintaining skin integrity and preventing infection, thus resolving the contradiction between wireless convenience and transmission efficiency.
2Use of energy by moving object
If wired solutions are used to transmit power and information across the skin, then power transmission efficiency and bit rate are improved, but reliability deteriorates due to infection risks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs biocompatible coatings and sealed membrane structures on percutaneous access devices that create protective barriers against infection while allowing electrical connections. These thin film structures maintain the reliability of wired connections by preventing pathogen entry while enabling efficient power and data transmission.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent describes replaceable percutaneous access device components that can be periodically changed to prevent infection accumulation and maintain system reliability. This disposable approach allows maintenance of high transmission efficiency while mitigating long-term infection risks through regular replacement of potentially contaminated components.
3Measurement precision
If agonist-antagonist muscle pairs are mechanically coupled across sliding surfaces, then measurement precision of joint position is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes the body's own muscle tissue and neural pathways to provide proprioceptive feedback measurements. By mechanically coupling existing agonist-antagonist muscle pairs across surgically created sliding surfaces, the system leverages the body's natural biomechanics and sensory systems to achieve precise joint position measurement without requiring complex external sensors or actuators.
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
Enables simultaneous control of prosthetic joint position and impedance, provides bi-directional neural control, and restores natural muscle stimulation with closed-loop feedback, reducing pain and improving prosthetic interaction.
Implementation Method 1
forming a sliding surface within a residual limb of a person, and forming a linkage between a pair of agonist and antagonist muscles that traverses the sliding surface
Implementation Method 2
using percutaneous access devices for transdermal electrical communication to restore natural muscle control
Data Source
AI summary
Proprioceptive feedback is provided in a residual limb of a person that includes forming a linkage between a pair of agonist and antagonist muscles, forming a sliding surface over which the agonist and antagonist muscles slide. The sliding surface can include a synovial sleeve, a bridge formed between the distal ends of bones, or a fixture that is osseointegrated into the bone. The invention also includes a system for transdermal electrical communication in a person that includes a percutaneous access device, a sensory device that communicates signals between a muscle and the percutaneous device, and a stimulation device in communication with the percutaneous access device. In another embodiment, a closed-loop functional stimulation system restores lost functionality to a person that suffers from impairment of a neurological control system or at least partial loss of a limb.