IBAD COATINGS FOR ADVANCED SPIRAL CUFF ELECTRODES

简单的袖带电极，因为它们很容易制造， 植入，高度可靠，一直是主力电极， 大多数临床应用的神经假体，尽管它们的“关闭”， 关于“特色”。 虽然电极允许分级的神经 激活将产生更好的控制，他们现在不能制造， 安全实用的袖口形式。 这一限制最近被 凯斯西储大学（CWRU）的研究人员克服了这一困难， 已经证明了有自我意识的动物神经的选择性激活， 专利设计的缠绕螺旋袖状电极。 CWRU电极现在制造一次一个在一个费力的时间， 消耗一系列的手工操作，其产量很小， 产品不可靠;充分实现CWRU的好处 创新，必须开发改进的、可大规模生产的版本。 这样的电极就是Spire提议的主题。 离子束辅助沉积（IBAD）将用于放置薄的，高度 硅橡胶和标准半导体上的粘合导电膜 用于在其中限定电极的处理技术（光刻）。 这种方法将允许可靠的，可重复的螺旋生产 袖带电极设计，使设计具有更小的特征， 更刺激的表面。 原型袖带将在阶段中生产 I. 在第二阶段，我们将进一步完善制造工艺， 电极在广泛的，长期的动物研究。

Simple cuff electrodes, because they are easily fabricated, easily implanted, and highly reliable, have been the workhorse electrodes for most of the clinically applied neural prostheses in spite of their "off- on" characteristics. While electrodes that permit graduated neural activation would yield better control, they cannot now be fabricated in the form of a safe and practical cuff. This limitation has recently been overcome by investigators at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), who have demonstrated selective activation of nerves in animals with a self- wrapping spiral cuff electrode of patented design. The CWRU electrodes are now fabricated one-at-a-time in a laborious, time consuming series of manual operations whose output is small and whose product in unreliable; to fully realize the benefits of CWRU's innovation, an improved, mass-producible versions must be developed. Such an electrode is the subject of Spire's proposal. Ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD) will be used to place a thin, highly adherent, conducting film on silicone rubber and standard semiconductor processing techniques (photolithography) used to define electrodes in it. This approach will allow reliable, repeatable production of the spiral cuff electrode design and make possible designs with smaller features and more stimulating surfaces. Prototype cuffs will be manufactured in Phase I. In Phase II, we will further refine the fabrication process and test the electrodes in extensive, long-term animal studies.