Determination of Long Term Motor Control and Cutaneous Sensory Properties of a High Resolution Peripheral Nerve Interface Technology for Limb Amputees.

摘要

Methods for recording and stimulating through implantable microtube arrays that may be of clinical use were developed. 3D assembly methods were designed. High reliability electrode arrays were fabricated with CMOS and implant compatible processing. Interconnect and percutaneous connectors were designed and implemented including an adapter that allows wire bonding of the silicon microelectrode arrays and soldering of interconnects to the percutaneous connectors. Initial approaches to production of microtubes on wafers or devices were unsuccessful. Alternative approaches were devised but most were: too expensive for commercial feasibility; involved materials of unknown biocompatibility; or were low yield in practice. Some approaches required relatively expensive capital equipment which could not be justified for prototypes. Recent efforts resulted in identification of commercial approaches that would likely be feasible if developed. A low cost, single device 'universal' casting method has recently shown promise and is currently being evaluated.