An Intracranial Energy Harvesting Device for Treatment of Neurological Disorders

本研究的目的是开发一种用于医疗和非医疗应用的能量清除装置。主要的重点将是颅内植入系统治疗神经系统疾病，如癫痫。该方法是通过用电极位移悬浮隔膜，将颅内压的波动转化为电能。为了增加挠度，将利用压力引起的液体相变使腔室坍塌，从而有效地放大压力变化引起的挠度。智力优势：在身体高度敏感的区域收集能量的能力将允许广泛的真正的微创和自主植入式系统，这将能够从MEMS，纳米技术和集成电路提供的优势中受益。更广泛的影响：这项研究的更广泛的影响是众多的，最重要的是患有神经系统疾病（如癫痫、帕金森病、肌张力障碍、特发性震颤和抑郁症）的人的生活质量。微创和完全自主的植入物可以帮助患者不察觉这些疾病。此外，这项研究将有助于通过招聘来吸引代表性不足的研究生群体，并通过在课堂上向本科生展示这项工作和监督工作，以及东北大学与高中生建立桥梁项目，其中许多学生来自该地区主要的少数民族学校。

The objective of this research is to develop an energy scavenging device for use in both medical and non-medical applications. The primary focus will be on intracranial implantable systems for treatment of neurological disorders such as epilepsy. The approach is to convert fluctuations in intracranial pressure to electrical power through the displacement of a suspended diaphragm with an electrode. To increase the deflection, pressure-instigated phase change of a liquid will be employed to collapse a chamber and effectively amplify the deflection due to the pressure variation. Intellectual Merit: The ability to harvest energy in highly-sensitive areas of the body will allow for a wide range of truly minimally-invasive and autonomous implantable systems which will be able to benefit from the advantages provided by MEMS, nanotechnology, and integrated circuits.Broader Impacts: The broader impacts of this research are numerous with the most significant being the quality of life of people suffering from neurological disorders such as epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, dystonia, essential tremor, and depression. Minimally-invasive and fully autonomous implants can help make these ailments unnoticeable to the patient. In addition, this research will help attract underrepresented groups at the graduate-level through recruitment, and at the undergraduate-level to engineering through exposure of this work to undergraduate students in the classroom and through supervised work, as well as Northeastern University's Building Bridges program with high school students, many of whom are from predominantly minority schools in the area.