Reconfigurable semiconductor technology for advanced neural implants

神经系统疾病是全世界致残的主要原因和第二大死亡原因。监测和治疗这些疾病非常困难，因为靶点被厚厚的骨头包裹着，而循环系统中的特殊膜会阻止许多药物。先进的神经植入物是一项令人兴奋的技术，它包括放置在头骨或脊柱内的电子设备，可以彻底改变我们对大脑的理解，并治疗相关疾病——使人们重新行走；孩子第一次听到；或者缓解癫痫或帕金森氏症的症状然而，这种设备需要复杂的电子设备，在尺寸和功率上有严格的限制，同时还要符合最严格的监管要求（有源植入式医疗设备）。因此，植入物的开发可能需要数年时间和数亿英镑的资金，这对创新者、投资者和中小型公司来说是一个主要的障碍和风险。我们的愿景是创造一套模块化芯片（或微芯片）来应对这些挑战。先进的包装技术将这些组合成微小的系统，使公司和研究人员能够快速满足不同的需求。通过这种方式，我们最大限度地减少了植入物的尺寸和功耗，开辟了新的手术方法（类似于向锁眼手术的转变），降低了患者的风险。这个项目是Mint神经技术公司、Amber Therapeutics公司和伦敦帝国理工学院之间的合作，共同创造了一个“芯片组”（一组设计用于特定应用的芯片），并将其封装到一个设备中。这将首先构成用于治疗混合性尿失禁的医疗设备的电子元件（目前市场上还没有其他可用的治疗方法），并将开启超越首次应用的新设备疗法。从长远来看，这些芯片组和封装能力将使植入物的开发速度更快，成本更低，使患有罕见或目前未治疗的神经系统疾病的患者能够使用该技术。

Neurological conditions are the leading cause of disability and the second cause of deaths worldwide. Monitoring and treating these diseases is incredibly difficult as targets are encased in thick bone and special membranes in the circulatory system block many drugs.Advanced neural implants, comprising electronics placed inside the skull or spine, are an exciting technology that could revolutionise our understanding of the brain and treat associated conditions---enabling people to walk again; children to hear for the first time; or relieving the symptoms of epilepsy or Parkinson's disease.However, such devices require complex electronics with tight constraints on size and power, whilst also complying with the most stringent regulatory requirements (Active Implantable Medical Devices). As a result, implants can take years and hundreds of millions of pounds to develop---a major barrier and risk for innovators, investors, and small-medium sized companies.Our vision is to create a set of modular chips (or microchips) that meet these challenges. Advanced packaging techniques combine these together into tiny systems to enable companies and researchers to rapidly address different needs. In this way, we minimise implant size and power consumption, opening up new approaches for surgery (akin to the switch to keyhole surgery) that reduce risks to patients.This project is a collaboration between Mint Neurotechnologies, Amber Therapeutics, and Imperial College London to co-create a "chipset" (group of chips designed to work together for a specific application) and package it into a device. This will first constitute the electronics of a medical device for treating mixed urinary incontinence (no other treatment available on the market yet) and will unlock new device therapies beyond the first application.More long-term, these chipset and packaging capabilities will enable faster, cheaper development of implants, making the technology accessible for patients with rarer or currently untreated neurological conditions.