Subsurface Field-Shaping Electrodes for Heart Pacemaker Current Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing heart pacemakers fail to control the propagation of electric pulses through the heart muscle effectively, leading to inefficient heart pumping due to uncontrolled current distribution and lack of optimization in the contraction sequence, which has been a persistent challenge despite attempts with multiple electrodes.
Innovation Solution
The use of passive, field-shaping electrodes that are electrically insulating and positioned either on the surface or subsurface, allowing for precise control of the electric field to guide the electric current and optimize the contraction sequence by adjusting the electric field lines to match the heart's asymmetric structure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If multiple electrodes are used for electrical stimulation, then the ability to control current distribution is improved, but the complexity of the device increases
Solution Approach 1:
The device segments the electrode functionality into two distinct types: active electrodes for current injection and passive field-shaping electrodes for electric field control. This segmentation allows independent optimization of each electrode type's function, enabling precise current distribution control without proportionally increasing overall device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
Passive field-shaping electrodes act as intermediaries between the active electrodes and the heart tissue. These electrodes do not directly inject current but instead shape the electric field to guide current propagation, thereby controlling current distribution with additional components that have specialized functions rather than duplicating active electrode functionality.
2Ease of manufacture
If passive field-shaping electrodes are positioned on the surface, then the electric field control is simplified, but the precision of field shaping is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The invention moves field-shaping electrodes from the surface (2D positioning) to subsurface positions (3D positioning within the tissue). This dimensional transition enables more precise control of the electric field geometry by placing electrodes at optimal depths, thereby improving field shaping precision while maintaining manufacturability through standardized implantation procedures.
3Reliability
If active electrodes are used for current injection, then the stimulation effectiveness is improved, but the control over current propagation path is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
Passive field-shaping electrodes serve as intermediaries that control the propagation path of current injected by active electrodes. The passive electrodes shape the electric field to guide current along desired paths through the heart tissue, thereby providing path control without interfering with the stimulation effectiveness delivered by the active electrodes.
Solution Approach 2:
The device implements local quality by assigning different functional properties to different electrode types: active electrodes provide strong current injection capability for reliable stimulation, while passive field-shaping electrodes provide localized electric field control to guide current propagation paths. Each electrode type is optimized for its specific function rather than attempting to perform all functions.
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
This approach enhances the efficiency of heart pumping by ensuring a more sequential and effective contraction sequence, increasing the pumping fraction and improving the overall efficiency of blood circulation.
Implementation Method 1
These are the electrodes that are covered by an electric insulating layer, being therefore unable to inject electric charges on the environment surrounding the device. They are, nevertheless, well capable to project an electric field in the surrounding tissues
Implementation Method 2
a glass or rubber cover on an electrode causes that no electric charge can move through them. But the gravitational field, in one case, and the electric field, on the other case, can penetrate the insulating barrier
Data Source
AI summary
An electric stimulator for heart (as in heart pacemakers), brain (as in DBS), organs and general cells, with a supporting structure where there exists a plurality of electrically isolated electrodes called passive electrodes or field-shaping electrodes that are located under the surface of the supporting structure. The passive electrodes are controlled by an appropriate electronics control unit and powered by some electric energy storage, as a battery. Passive or field-shaping electrodes are electrically insulated, being unable to inject current in the surrounding medium, but they are capable of shaping the electric field in the space surrounding the electrodes, which has consequence on the path of the stimulating currents injected by other devices or by the organism itself. The invention also discloses locating the passive electrodes on surfaces that surround the desired target volume.