I-Corps: minimally invasive deep brain stimulation using temporally interfering electromagnetic waves

I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力在于，它旨在通过改善帕金森病患者的身体健康、减轻与护理相关的成本和防止失业来恢复他们的自主权。目前治疗耐药帕金森病的方法被称为深部脑刺激，需要在脑组织内植入电极，这可能会导致颅内出血或中风等手术并发症。这个计划提供了一种微创的方法来持续刺激大脑。该刺激装置具有连续可操作和便携性，最适合治疗帕金森病患者。这项技术还可以有效地治疗特发性震颤、癫痫和抑郁症等疾病，这些疾病是传统的深部脑刺激手术的候选者。这种方法通过提供先前电刺激方法所没有的好处，可以打开神经调节技术的新篇章。这可能会产生巨大的社会影响，因为根据帕金森基金会的数据，全球有1000万帕金森病患者。具体来说，美国有100万患者患有帕金森病，每年有近9万患者被诊断患有帕金森病。在美国，与帕金森氏症相关的医疗费用估计为每年520亿美元。这个I-Corps项目是基于大脑刺激植入物的发展，该植入物使用两个相似的千兆赫电磁波的叠加，通过颅内植入的天线阵列传输，以产生低频包络信号，以高度集中的方式刺激大脑深部目标，同时又具有最小的侵入性。刺激基于以下关键因素：1)GHz电磁波可以使用天线非常有效地辐射，这是一种成熟且经济的技术。由于天线的尺寸与工作频率成反比，因此可以使用GHz频率的非常小的天线。（ii）多个单天线可以组合在一起形成天线阵列。天线阵列中的天线数量越多，刺激光束就越窄，穿透脑组织的深度就越深。（iii）由于千兆赫电磁波的波长较短，该刺激提供了两倍于先前脑刺激技术的自由度，以实现局灶性脑刺激。此外，人们可以在不改变天线阵列位置的情况下刺激脑组织内的多个目标。这比最先进的侵入性脑刺激电极要灵活得多。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is that it aims to restore the autonomy of patients with Parkinson's disease by improving their physical well-being, easing the costs associated with caregiving, and preventing the loss of employment. The current approach to treating medication-resistant Parkinson's disease, called Deep Brain Stimulation, requires electrode implantation inside the brain tissue that creates potential for surgical complications like intracranial hemorrhage or stroke. The proposed project provides a minimally-invasive way to stimulate the brain continuously. The stimulation device is best suited for treating patients with Parkinson's disease due to its continuously operable and portable nature. The technology may also effectively treat disorders like essential tremor, epilepsy, and depression, which are traditional candidates for deep brain stimulation surgery. This methodology can open a new chapter in neuromodulation technologies by offering benefits not shared by prior methodologies of electrical stimulation. This could have a huge social impact as, according to the Parkinson’s Foundation, there are 10 million Parkinson's disease patients globally. Specifically, one million patients in the US live with Parkinson's disease, and nearly 90,000 patients are diagnosed with Parkinson's disease yearly. In the US, the healthcare costs associated with Parkinson's disease are estimated to be $52 billion a year.This I-Corps project is based on the development of brain stimulation implants that use the superposition of two similar giga-hertz electromagnetic waves, transmitted by endocranially implanted antenna arrays, for creating a low-frequency envelop signal to stimulate deep brain targets in a highly focused, and yet minimally invasive fashion. The stimulation is based on the following key factors: i) GHz EM waves can be radiated very effectively using antennas, a mature and cost-effective technology. Since the size of an antenna is inversely proportional to the operating frequency, one can use very small antennas at GHz frequencies. (ii) Multiple single antennas can be grouped together to create an antenna array. The higher the number of antennas in an array, the narrower the stimulating beams becomes, penetrating deeper into the brain tissue. (iii) Due to the small wavelength of GHz EM waves, the stimulation offers twice the degrees-of-freedom as prior brain stimulation technologies to achieve focal brain stimulation. (iv) Additionally, one can stimulate multiple targets inside the brain tissue without changing the location of the antenna arrays. This is significantly more flexible than state-of-the-art invasive electrodes for brain stimulation.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.