Biomedical device

• US 20050096752A1
• Filed: 02/24/2003
• Published: 05/05/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 02/23/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Brian Andrews, Kevin Warwick
• Original Assignee: Brian Andrews, Kevin Warwick
• Inventors: Andrews, Brian, Warwick, Kevin
• Application Number:
  US10/505,651
• Publication Number:
  US 20050096752A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 623/25
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/24 Detecting, measuring or recording bioelectric or biomagnetic signals of the body or parts thereof
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/0551 Spinal or peripheral nerve electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/08 Arrangements or circuits for monitoring, protecting, controlling or indicating for external stimulators A61N1/3603; for implantable neurostimulators A61N1/36128; for heart stimulators A61N1/37; for defibrillators A61N1/3925
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/36003 of motor muscles, e.g. for walking assistance
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/36017 with leads or electrodes penetrating the skin
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/36103 Neuro-rehabilitation; Repair or reorganisation of neural tissue, e.g. after stroke
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/36139 with automatic adjustment

Abstract

A device to be wholly or partly implanted into a patient'"'"'s body comprises: one or more sensors to be placed at any appropriate location of said body and adapted to obtain, in use, one or more sensory and/or motor signals from the body'"'"'s nervous system and/or from the pressure or temperature exerted on the body; one or more electrodes to be placed at any appropriate location of said body and adapted to feed, in use, sensory and/or motor signals to the body'"'"'s nervous system; and a control means incorporating a memory of one or more predetermined signals, a comparator to compare the sensory and/or motor signals obtained with said predetermined signals, and means for producing sensory and/or motor signals to feed any appropriate location of the body'"'"'s nervous system; the magnitude of these latter sensory and/or motor signals being dependent on the outcome of the comparison conducted by the comparator.

Claims

1-7. -7. (canceled)

8. A device to be wholly or partly implanted into a patient'"'"'s body, said device comprising:

one or more sensors to be placed at any appropriate location of said body and adapted to obtain, in use, one or more sensory and/or motor signals from the body'"'"'s nervous system and/or from pressure or temperature exerted on the body;

one or more sensors to be placed at any appropriate location of said body and adapted to feed, in use, sensory and/or motor signals to the body'"'"'s nervous system;

and a control means incorporating a memory of one or more predetermined signals;

a comparator to compare the sensory and/or motor signals obtained with said predetermined signals, and means for producing sensory and/or motor signals to feed any appropriate location of the body'"'"'s nervous system;

the magnitude of these latter sensory and/or motor signals being dependent on the outcome of the comparison conducted by the comparator.

9. A device according to claim 8 wherein the control means is adapted to feed one or motor signals to cause, in use, the contraction or expansion of one or more muscles of the body and to obtain one or more sensory signals during the contraction or expansion of one or more of said muscles.

10. A device according to claim 8 wherein the sensors are constituted by one array of microelectrodes to be located upstream from a lesion operating in conjunction with another array of microelectrodes downstream from said lesion.

11. A device according to claim 9 wherein the sensors are constituted by one array of microelectrodes to be located upstream from a lesion operating in conjunction with another array of microelectrodes downstream from said lesion.

12. A device according to claim 10 wherein each array comprises approximately 100 microelectrodes.

13. A device according to claim 11 wherein each array comprises approximately 100 microelectrodes.

14. A device according to claim 8, wherein the sensors are microelectrodes, the or each tip of which is adapted to be inserted in use into the or each nerve trunk.

15. Means enabling the flexure of a patient'"'"'s body member, comprising:

(a) an array of microelectrodes implanted into one or more nerve portion,

(b) means producing one or more motor signals sufficient to cause the stretching or contraction of one or more muscles,

(c) means for obtaining one or more sensory signals from one or more microelectrodes during the stretching or contraction of one or more muscles,

(d) means for comparing the or each obtained sensory signals with a set of predetermined sensory signals,

(e) means for producing one or more motor signals to adjust the stretching or contraction of one or more muscles in accordance with the outcome of the comparison carried out in (d).