DEVELOPMENT OF AN IMPLANTABLE EMG MICRO-TELEMETER

目的是建立一种可靠的肌电图（EMG）转录的新遥测仪，以提供更高质量的假肢控制信号。肌电图是按比例反映肌肉收缩力的电位记录。截肢者残肢残余肌肉的肌电信号被用来控制电动假肢系统。对于截肢者，肌电信号目前是通过皮肤表面电极来感知的。这些皮肤表面电极有实际的限制，显著影响控制性能。拟议的肌电遥测仪将由接触目标肌肉表面的双极电极和定制集成电路组成，用于放大、编码和传输肌电信号。它们将展示：1)不受电磁干扰；2)相邻肌肉对相声的免疫；3)不受皮肤运动和电导率干扰；4)提高信噪比；5)提高了信号的长期再现性。组件将被封装，在盐水溶液中测试，并植入动物肌肉表面。性能将通过皮肤电极、遥测仪以及与肌肉表面电极的有线连接的同时记录来评估。记录保真度将随时间进行比较。将对植入装置周围的组织进行生物相容性和装置固定的组织学评估。拟议的商业应用：肌电遥测仪可以改造到所有现有的肌电控制系统，因此将有大约10万美国公民的直接市场。其他应用包括所有植入式生物传感器系统所需的遥测数据。生理学应用的小市场也可能存在。

The objective is to establish a new telemeter for reliable ElectroMyoGram (EMG) transcription that will provide higher quality prosthesis control signals. EMGs are electrical potential recordings that proportionally reflect the contractile force of a muscle. EMGs from residual muscles in an amputee's stump are used to control electrically powered prosthetic systems. For amputees, EMGs are currently sensed using skin surface electrodes. These skin surface electrodes have practical limitations that significantly affect control performance. The proposed EMG telemeters will consist of bipolar electrodes that contact the surface of the target muscle and custom integrated circuits to amplify, encode and transmit the EMG signal. They will exhibit: 1) freedom from electromagnetic interference; 2) immunity from crosstalk with adjacent muscles; 3) freedom from skin motion and conductivity interference; 4) improved signal to noise amplitudes; and 5) improved long-term signal reproducibility. Assemblies will be encapsulated, tested in saline solution and implanted on the surface of muscles in animals. Performance will be evaluated using simultaneous recordings from skin electrodes, the telemeters, and from wired connections to the electrodes on the surface of the muscle. Recording fidelity will be compared over time. Tissue surrounding the implanted devices will be histologically evaluated for biocompatibility and device fixation. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS: EMG telemeters could be retrofitted to all existing myoelectric control systems and thus would have an immediate market of about 100,000 US citizens. Other applications include telemetry of data on demand for all implantable biosensor systems. A small market for physiology applications may also exist.