DEVELOPMENT OF AN IMPLANTABLE EMG MICRO-TELEMETER

其目的是建立一种新的遥测仪，用于可靠的肌电(EMG)转录，以提供更高质量的假体控制信号。肌电图仪是按比例反映肌肉收缩力量的电势记录。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，肌电目前是使用皮肤表面电极检测的。这些皮肤表面电极具有明显影响控制性能的实际限制。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，以放大、编码和传输肌电信号。它们将展示：1)不受电磁干扰；2)不受邻近肌肉的串扰；3)不受皮肤运动和导电性干扰；4)改善信噪比幅度；5)改善长期信号重复性。组件将被封装，在生理盐水中进行测试，并植入动物的肌肉表面。将使用皮肤电极、遥测仪和肌肉表面电极的有线连接的同步记录来评估性能。录音的保真度将随着时间的推移进行比较。植入装置周围的组织将进行组织学评估，以进行生物兼容性和装置固定。拟议的商业应用：肌电遥测仪可以改装成所有现有的肌电控制系统，因此将立即拥有约10万美国公民的市场。其他应用包括按需遥测所有植入式生物传感器系统的数据。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.