Cuff Electrodes with Soft Wire Electrical Leads

项目摘要/摘要 “一期软性弹性导线神经袖带电极的研制 应用程序“ 派：Brady Clapsaddle，TDA Research，Inc. 生物电子接口用于记录和提供电脉冲的广泛应用 来治疗疾病。PNS的一个常见接口设备是袖带电极。目前的袖带电极有 有多种失效模式，最常见的是脆性金属微丝引线在植入或 有规律的运动。僵硬的金属丝也会刺激软组织，导致炎症反应和疤痕形成。 研究人员和临床医生已经认识到，袖带电极的寿命延长和植入容易 将极大地促进研究和电疗法，推动近年来商业袖带电极的进步 好几年了。更容易植入并具有更好的组织相容性的材料的开发一直在进行 这些进步的前沿。然而，这些新的手铐仍然主要使用金属微线来接触 纸巾。导电聚合物和碳质材料与组织具有更好的机械兼容性 而不是它们的金属对应物。TDA最近开发了一种柔软的弹性线材，它是兼容的 用纸巾。此外，TDA的导线是有弹性的，可以伸展到其原始尺寸的200%(取决于 配方)，因此TDA的软线有可能消除传统袖口的许多失效模式 通过更换易碎的金属微丝来代替电极。由于其可伸展、柔韧的性质，TDA的软线可以 能够承受植入的压力，并与硬件实现坚固的接口。使用这些材料，我们 建议开发具有软聚合物电引线的新型袖带电极，以提高耐久性、易用性 应用于周围神经系统的袖带电极的植入和组织相容性 (PNS)。我们的方法是用柔性导线制造袖套电极。一旦捏造，我们的 匹兹堡大学的合作者将展示PNS的植入性，急性在体 在一项慢性活体研究中的功能性和长期表现。

Project Summary/Abstract “Development of a Nerve Cuff Electrode from Soft and Elastomeric Conducting Wires STTR Phase I Application” PI: Brady Clapsaddle, TDA Research, Inc. Bio-electronic interfaces are used in a wide array of applications for recording and providing electrical impulses to treat disease. One common interface device for the PNS is the cuff electrode. Current cuff electrodes have many failure modes, most commonly breakage of the brittle metal microwire leads during implantation or regular movement. Stiff metal wires also irritate soft tissue, leading to inflammatory response and scarring. Researchers and clinicians have realized that increased lifetime and ease of implantation of cuff electrodes would greatly benefit research and electrotherapy, prompting advances in commercial cuff electrodes in recent years. The development of materials that are easier to implant and have better tissue compatibility has been at the forefront of these advances. These new cuffs however, still mainly use metal microwires for contact with the tissue. Conducting polymers and carbonaceous materials offer better mechanical compatibility with tissues than their metal counterparts. TDA has recently developed a soft, elastomeric wire material that is compatible with tissue. Furthermore, TDA's wires are elastic, stretching to >200% of their original size (depending on formulation), and thus TDA's soft wires have the potential to eliminate many failure modes of traditional cuff electrodes by replacing brittle metal microwires. Due to their stretchable, pliable nature, TDA's soft wires can withstand the stress of implantation and result in robust interfaces with hardware. Using these materials, we propose to develop novel cuff electrodes with soft polymeric electrical leads to improve durability, ease of implantation, and tissue compatibility of cuff electrodes for applications in the peripheral nervous system (PNS). Our approach is to fabricate cuff electrodes with flexible conducting wires. Once fabricated, our collaborators at the University of Pittsburgh will demonstrate implantability in the PNS, acute in vivo functionality, and long term performance in a chronic in vivo study.