Fully implantable wireless multi-electrode ECoG monitoring system

全世界大约有5000万人患有癫痫。癫痫是第三大最常见的神经系统疾病，在社会成本方面排名第二。大约15%的癫痫患者通过手术切除大脑中癫痫发作的源头。术前评估是为了定位病灶，并确保在不产生神经功能缺损的情况下完成切除。这些常规的治疗方法包括在大脑皮层上植入皮质电图（ECoG）电极阵列数周。在此期间，ECoG电极的导线必须连接到台式电生理设备上。因此，患者必须被绑住，这使得这种方法既麻烦又不安全。此外，在整个手术过程中，患者的头骨必须打开，这增加了感染的风险。该提议的完全植入式无线ECoG系统将允许患者在观察癫痫病灶定位和脑功能评估时自由活动，消除感染或再植入的风险。运动障碍，如慢性中风、脊髓损伤和肌萎缩侧索硬化症（ALS）引起的瘫痪，也很普遍，对社会来说代价高昂。使用完全植入的无线ECoG脑机接口（BCI）可以治疗或显著改善感觉运动障碍患者的生活质量。我们建议开发一种256个电极完全集成的无线ECoG监测系统，这将彻底改变临床神经监测。我们将开发一种可植入的微芯片，它可以进行可编程的神经信号记录和神经刺激，并将记录的神经数据通过皮肤无线传输到计算机。电源和控制命令也可以无线发送到芯片。我们将把芯片与表面和深度电极阵列集成在一起，提供一种远程记录和刺激大脑256个部位的新能力。我们将把结果传达给加拿大的神经科医生和神经外科医生、神经调节公司、癫痫和脑机接口社区，以及许多可能从这项技术中受益的患者。

Approximately 50 million people worldwide are epileptic. Epilepsy is the third most common neurological disorder, and ranks second in terms of costs to society. Approximately 15% of epilepsy patients undergo surgical resection of the source of the seizures in the brain. Preoperative assessments are done to localize the focus, and to ensure that the resection can be accomplished without producing neurological deficits. These conventional procedures involve implanting an electrocorticography (ECoG) electrode array over the cortex for several weeks. During this time wires from the ECoG electrodes have to be connected to bench-top electrophysiological equipment. As a result, patients have to be tethered making this approach cumbersome and unsafe. Also, the patients skull has to be opened during the entire time of the procedure which increases the risk of infection. The proposed fully implantable wireless ECoG system will allow patients to move freely and eliminate the risk of infection or reimplantation while under observation for epilepsy focus localization and brain function assessment. Motor disabilities such as paralysis due to chronic stroke, spinal cord injury, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are also prevalent and costly to society. Patients with sensory-motor disabilities can be treated or significantly improve quality of their life by using a fully implanted wireless ECoG brain-computer interface (BCI). We propose to develop a 256-electrode fully integrated wireless ECoG monitoring system which will revolutionize clinical neuromonitoring. We will develop an implantable microchip that performs programmable neural signal recording and neural stimulation and sends recorded neural data wirelessly through skin to a computer. Power and control commands are also sent to the chip wirelessly. We will integrate the chip with surface and depth electrode arrays to deliver a novel capability to remotely record and stimulate at 256 sites in the brain. We will translate the results to Canadian neurologists and neurosurgeons, neuromodulation companies, epilepsy and BCI communities, and to the many patients who may benefit from this technology.