NEURAL CHANNEL BRIDGE AIDED BY A MICRO-ELECTRONIC SYSTEM

• US 20090112286A1
• Filed: 12/25/2006
• Published: 04/30/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nantong University, Southeast University
• Original Assignee: Nantong University, Southeast University
• Inventors: Gu, Xiaosong, Wang, Zhigong, Lv, Xiaoying
• Granted Patent: US 8,000,806 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 607/50
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/0551 Spinal or peripheral nerve electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/372 Arrangements in connection with the implantation of stimulators
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37205 Microstimulators, e.g. implantable through a cannula

Abstract

Methods and equipment used to regenerate sensory, motorial, or visceral signals of injured, broken or diseased nerves of mammalia, such as humans, are provided. In some embodiments, a lineup of downward and upward channels to bridge injured neural channels is disclosed. The downward or upward channels can be connected to electrodes which are in contact with upper or lower nerve stumps. The channels can be used to detect, amplify, and recognize the motorial or sensory signals, to generate related Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) signals, and to supply the FES signals to the electrodes on the lower or upper nerve stumps. Neural signals can thus be regenerated and the injured motorial or sensory channels can be bridged.

Claims

1. (canceled)

2. (canceled)

3. (canceled)

4. (canceled)

5. (canceled)

6. (canceled)

7. (canceled)

8. (canceled)

9. A method using a micro-electronic system (MES) for the regeneration of the sensory, motorial, or visceral signals of injured broken or diseased nerves of a mammal, the system comprising downward and upward channels configured to bridge injured neural channels, the method comprising:

contacting at least one electrode array onto an upper portion of a nerve stump;

contacting at least one electrode array on a lower portion of a nerve stump;

connecting at least a downward channel to the electrode arrays;

using the downward channel to detect, to amplify, and to recognize the motorial signals;

generating related Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) signals;

supplying the FES signals to the electrode array on the lower nerve stump, so that neural signals can be regenerated and the injured motorial channels can be bridged;

connecting at least an upward channel to the electrode array on the lower portion of the nerve stump;

after the sensory neural signals are detected and processed, generating related FES signals to stimulate the upper electrode array, so that the injured sensory channels can be bridged.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the electrode array contacting the upper portion of the nerve stump comprises at least downward detecting electrodes, wherein the electrode array contacting the lower portion of the nerve stump comprises at least downward stimulating electrodes, the method further comprising:

processing the neural signals detected by the downward detecting electrodes only after passing through a First Switching Array (SA₁);

supplying the FES signals from a FES generator to the stimulating electrodes on the lower nerve stump only after they pass through a Second Switching Array (SA₂); and

routing the injured motorial channels with SA₁ and SA₂.

11. The method according to the description in claim 9, wherein the electrode array contacting the upper portion of the nerve stump comprises at least upward stimulating electrodes, wherein the electrode array contacting the lower portion of the nerve stump comprises at least upward detecting electrodes, the method further comprising:

processing the neural signals detected by the upward detecting electrodes only after they pass through a Third Switching Array (SA₃);

applying FES signals from a FES generator to the stimulating electrodes only after they pass through a Fourth Switching Array (SA₄); and

routing the injured sensory channels. SA₃ and SA₄ are used to correctly route the injured sensory channels.

12. The method according to claim 9, wherein the at least one downward channel comprises downward detecting electrodes, a downward amplifier, a downward signal processor, a downward stimulator and downward stimulating electrodes, wherein the step of using comprises using the downward detecting electrodes to detect motorial signals from an upper injured nerve stump, amplifying the weak signal with the downward amplifier to such an amplitude that the signal can easily be processed by the downward processor, generating an FES signal with the downward stimulator, and using the downward stimulating electrodes to apply the FES to the lower nerve stump;

and

wherein the upward channel comprises upward detecting electrodes, an upward amplifier, an upward signal processor, an upward stimulator and upward stimulating electrodes, wherein the step of generating related FES signals to stimulate the upper electrode array comprises using the upward detecting electrodes to detect sensory signals from a lower injured nerve stump, amplifying the weak signal with the upward amplifier to such an amplitude that the signal can easily be processed by the upward processor, generating a related FES signal with the upward stimulator, and using the upward stimulating electrodes to apply the related FES to the upper nerve stump for regeneration of the sensory signal.

13. A system for performing the method of claim 12 comprising an upper contacting electrode array including the downward detecting electrodes, the upward stimulating electrodes, a SA₁, and a SA₄, wherein the SA₁ is inserted at a place between the downward detecting electrodes and the downward amplifier and connects the downward amplifier with one motorial channel of the upper nerve stump, wherein SA₄ is inserted at the place between the upward stimulator and the upward stimulating electrodes and connects the upward stimulator the correct sensory channel of the upper nerve stump;

and

a lower contacting electrode array comprising the upward detecting electrodes, the downward stimulating electrodes, a SA₂ and a SA₃, wherein the SA₂ is inserted at a place between the downward stimulator and the downward stimulating electrodes and connects the downward stimulator with the correct motorial channel of the lower nerve stump, and wherein SA₃ is inserted at a place between the upward detecting electrodes and the upward amplifier and connects the upward amplifier with one motorial channel.

14. The system according to claim 12, wherein the signal processor comprises an active low pass filter consisting of an RC network and an operational amplifier (OPA), wherein the circuit is configured such that, through the amplifier, the amplified neural signals pass though second and third resistors (R₂, R₃) and act on an in-phase input terminal of the operational amplifier, wherein one terminal of a first capacitor (C₁) is connected at the same in-phase input terminal of OPA and the other terminal of C₁ is grounded, wherein a second capacitor (C₂) is connected over the common node of R₂ and R₃ and the output terminal of OPA, wherein one terminal of the first resistor (R₁) is connected at the anti-phase input terminal of OPA and the other terminal of R₁ is grounded, and wherein a shunt resistor Rf is connected over the anti-phase terminal and the output terminal of OPA.

15. The system according to claim 13, wherein the signal processor comprises an active low pass filter consisting of an RC network and an operational amplifier (OPA), wherein the circuit is configured such that, through the amplifier, the amplified neural signals pass though second and third resistors (R₂, R₃) and act on an in-phase input terminal of the operational amplifier, wherein one terminal of a first capacitor (C₁) is connected at the same in-phase input terminal of OPA and the other terminal of C₁ is grounded, wherein a second capacitor (C₂) is connected over the common node of R₂ and R₃ and the output terminal of OPA, wherein one terminal of the first resistor (R₁) is connected at the anti-phase input terminal of OPA and the other terminal of R₁ is grounded, and wherein a shunt resistor Rf is connected over the anti-phase terminal and the output terminal of OPA.

16. The system according to claim 12, wherein between the motorial signal detecting electrodes and the motorial signal processor there is a motorial signal amplifier, the system being configured such that the detected signals from the motorial detecting electrodes are amplified by the motorial signal amplifier and sent to the motorial signal processor, wherein between the sensory detecting electrodes and the sensory processor there is a sensory signal amplifier, and wherein the detected signals from the sensory signal detecting electrodes are amplified by the sensory signal amplifier and sent to the sensory signal processor.

17. The system according to claim 12 wherein both the motorial signal amplifier and the sensory signal amplifier consist of the first amplifier, the second amplifier, and the summing amplifier, the output terminals of the first amplifier, the second amplifier are connected to the input terminals of the summing amplifier, the output terminals of the summing amplifier defining output terminals of the motorial signal amplifier or the sensory signal amplifier, the detecting electrodes comprising cuff electrodes, and wherein among the 3 contacts in the same longitudinal line, the middle one is connected to the anti-phase terminals of the amplifiers mentioned above, while the other two are connected to the in-phase terminals respectively.