MEMS-Enabled Ventricular Catheter for Hydrocephalus

描述（由申请人提供）：脑积水患者最常见的治疗方法之一是手术植入脑脊液（CSF）分流管。不幸的是，这种对治疗脑积水至关重要的设备具有相当大的失败率。该项目的目标是减少导管更换手术的频率或将其全部消除。我建议通过设计一种脑室导管来实现这一目标，该导管将通过使用微机械加工和生物微机电系统（bioMEMS）技术来抵抗由于细胞积累而导致的闭塞。用MEMS技术生产的磁性微致动器已经在生物流体中操作，而不需要直接有线的电源或控制电子器件。这种微致动器技术可用于减轻永久植入装置中的导管阻塞。具体目标是：（1）设计、制造和使用体外测试装置来分析阻塞过程，（2）设计和实现可用于抵抗阻塞的磁性微致动器，（3）使用体外装置来分析阻塞和用于原型设计的阻塞-清除过程。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): One of the most common treatments for patients with hydrocephalus is the surgical implantation of a cerebrospinal-fluid (CSF) shunt. Unfortunately, this device, which is critical for managing hydrocephalus, has a substantial failure rate. The goal of this project is to reduce the frequency of catheter replacement surgeries or to eliminate them all together. I propose to accomplish this by designing a ventricular catheter that will resist occlusion due to cellular accumulation, through the use of micromachining and biological micro-electro-mechanical systems (bioMEMS) technologies. Magnetic microactuators, produced with MEMS technologies, have been operated in biological fluids without the need for a directly wired power supply or control electronics. Such a microactuator technology could be used to mitigate catheter obstruction in a permanently implanted device. The specific aims are: (1) to design, fabricate, and use an in vitro test setup to analyze the obstruction process, (2) to design and implement a magnetic microactuator can be used to resist obstruction, (3) to use the in vitro setup to analyze the obstruction and the obstruction-clearing1 process for the prototype design.