Stretchable Electrode Labeling With Deposited Color for Clear Identification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for labeling stretchable biomedical devices, such as electrodes, are labor-intensive, impractical with new manufacturing techniques, and suffer from poor readability due to the reddish background of brain tissue, leading to ambiguous or unclear identification during neuromonitoring surgeries.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a transparent or translucent substrate layer with a deposited colored material to create a labelling item, which is coupled to the device, ensuring the labels match the device's arrangement and stretchability, allowing clear identification even under deformation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If manual placement of numbered disks is used, then numbering provides good contrast and identification, but the process becomes labor-intensive and not scalable with new manufacturing techniques
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the numbering function directly into the electrode structure by depositing colored material onto the substrate during the same manufacturing process that creates the electrode patterns. This integration eliminates the need for separate manual disk placement while maintaining clear numerical identification through the colored regions that form part of the electrode substrate.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses colored material deposited onto the substrate to create visible numbers and identifiers. The colored regions provide high contrast against the transparent or translucent substrate, enabling clear identification of electrode numbers and positions without requiring separate labeling steps.
2Device complexity
If numbering is placed above electrodes, then labeling is simplified, but readability becomes ambiguous and contrast is poor due to reddish brain tissue background
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies colored material specifically at the locations where numbers and identifiers need to be displayed on the electrode substrate. By concentrating the colored material only in these specific regions rather than uniformly across the entire electrode, the design achieves high contrast and readability while maintaining simplicity in the overall structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs colored material that provides high visual contrast against the transparent substrate and the reddish brain tissue background. The colored regions containing numbers and identifiers stand out clearly, enabling reliable identification during neuromonitoring procedures without ambiguity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If stretchable devices are manufactured with traditional numbering methods, then device functionality is maintained, but the manual labeling process cannot be implemented
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the electrode manufacturing process with the numbering process by depositing colored material onto the substrate during the same fabrication sequence. This merged process creates both the electrode patterns and the numerical identifiers in a single manufacturing flow, making it compatible with stretchable device production without requiring post-manufacturing labeling steps.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates the numbering information directly into the electrode substrate during the initial manufacturing process. By preparing the numbers and identifiers in advance as part of the substrate fabrication, the design eliminates the need for subsequent manual labeling operations, thereby facilitating the manufacture of stretchable devices while maintaining clear identification.
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
Provides clear and readable labeling on stretchable devices, maintaining device performance and usability, especially in neuromonitoring surgeries, by ensuring labels align with device changes and maintain visibility during stretching or deformation.
Implementation Method 1
Depositing a first coloured material onto the first substrate layer in a labelling portion of the layer
Data Source
AI summary
A method for labelling a portion of a device includes the steps of providing a first substrate layer of a transparent or translucent material, depositing a first coloured material onto the first substrate layer in a labelling portion of the layer, thereby obtaining a labelling item, and coupling the labelling item to the device. The method is particularly suitable for producing labelled stretchable devices such as soft body-implantable devices for sensing a physiological signal and/or stimulating an electrical and/or pharmacological activity of a body tissue or organ in a subject.