FLEXIBLE COMPLEMENTARY METAL-OXIDE-SEMICONDUCTOR PROBES FOR CHRONIC, LARGE-SCALE NEURAL STIMULATION AND RECORDING

• US 20180185656A1
• Filed: 02/27/2018
• Published: 07/05/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/27/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Trustees Of Columbia University In The City Of New York (Columbia University)
• Original Assignee: Trustees Of Columbia University In The City Of New York (Columbia University)
• Granted Patent: US 10,799,705 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0219 of externally powered implanted units
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0031 Implanted circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/291 for electroencephalography [EEG]
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/293 Invasive
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7225 Details of analog processing, e.g. isolation amplifier, gain or sensitivity adjustment, filtering, baseline or drift compensation A61B5/30, A61B5/316 take precedence; transformers for specific applications H01F38/00; amplifiers H03F
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/0529 Electrodes for brain stimulation
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/0531 Brain cortex electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/0551 Spinal or peripheral nerve electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37223 Circuits for electromagnetic coupling
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/3787 from an external energy source
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/26 using coils

Abstract

Systems and methods for providing neural stimulation and recording on a subject using flexible complementary CMOS probes are provided. Disclosed systems can include a flexible probe adapted for insertion into a portion of a brain of the subject, the flexible probe comprising a tail portion and a head portion. The tail portion can include a plurality of electrodes configured to be coupled to the brain and a plurality of front-end amplifiers. Each of the plurality of front-end amplifiers can be configured to amplify a signal received from a corresponding electrode of the plurality of electrodes. The head portion can include one or more inductors configured to enable two-way communication with a wireless reader through a near-field inductive link.

Claims

1. A system for performing neural stimulation and recording in the nervous system of a subject, comprising:

a single complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) chip, wherein the CMOS chip is thinned so as to be flexible and pliable;

one or more electrodes integrated into the CMOS chip; and

one or more inductors configured to provide wireless powering and data telemetry.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a flexible probe adapted for insertion into neural tissue, the flexible probe comprising a tail portion and a head portion,

wherein the tail portion comprises a plurality of electrodes configured to be coupled to the neural tissue and a plurality of front-end amplifiers, wherein each of the plurality of front-end amplifiers are configured to amplify a signal received from a corresponding electrode of the plurality of electrodes; and

wherein the head portion comprises the one or more inductors configured to enable two-way wireless communication and powering with a wireless external device.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the head portion further comprises:

data conversion circuitry configured to process signals received from each of the plurality of electrodes for transmission to wireless reader;

power extracting circuitry configured to provide the flexible probe with energy received wirelessly from the wireless reader by the probe by rectifying and boosting the received energy from the wireless reader, and

wherein the data conversion circuitry and the power conversion circuitry are disposed under the one or more inductors.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the data conversion circuitry comprises a data encoder circuit configured to use near-field electromagnetic backscattering in a low megahertz to low gigahertz frequency range to enable power transfer and a high megahertz to low gigahertz frequency range to enable the two-way communication between the flexible probe and the wireless reader.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein each of the plurality of front-end amplifiers comprises two CMOS transistors, wherein a gate terminal of at least one of the two CMOS transistors is input with the signal received from the corresponding electrode of the plurality of electrodes.

6. The system of claim 2, wherein the tail portion comprises a plurality of metal layers on which a plurality of analog signal chain circuits are located, wherein each of the plurality of analog signal chain circuits comprises one of the plurality of front-end amplifiers.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein each of the plurality of analog signal chain circuits is configured to process the signal received from the corresponding electrode of the plurality of electrodes, and wherein signal outputs of at least two of the plurality of analog signal chain circuits are multiplexed, amplified, and converted into a digital signal by an analog to digital converter for transmission to the wireless reader.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of electrodes are configured to detect an action potential by identifying an adjacent electrode from the plurality of electrodes recording the action potential.

9. The system of claim 2, wherein the tail portion comprises a scalable circuit architecture in which the number of electrodes in the plurality of electrodes can be scaled to provide for an electrode to neuron ratio greater than 1.

10. The system of claim 2, wherein the head portion of the flexible probe is oriented subdurally to communicate with the wireless reader.

11. A system for performing neural stimulation and recording in the nervous system of a subject, comprising:

a plurality of single complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) chips, each of which is thinned so as to be flexible and pliable;

one or more electrodes integrated into each of the plurality of CMOS chips; and

one or more inductors configured to provide wireless powering and data telemetry.

12. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

a plurality of flexible probes adapted to be inserted into neural tissue, each comprising a tail portion and a head portion,

wherein the tail portion comprises a plurality of electrodes configured to be coupled to the brain and a plurality of front-end amplifiers, wherein each of the plurality of front-end amplifiers is configured to amplify a signal received from a corresponding electrode of the plurality of electrodes; and

wherein the head portion comprises the one or more inductors configured to enable two-way wireless communication and powering with a wireless reader through a near-field inductive link; and

the wireless reader configured to provide power to the plurality of flexible probes and engage in two-way communication with each of the plurality of flexible probes.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein different carrier frequencies are used by each of the plurality of probes to communicate with the wireless reader to prevent signal interference amongst the plurality of probes.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the head portion of each of the plurality of flexible probes further comprises:

data conversion circuitry configured to process signals received from each of the plurality of electrodes for transmission to wireless reader;

power extracting circuitry configured to provide the flexible probe with energy received wirelessly from the wireless reader by the probe by rectifying and boosting the received energy from the wireless reader, and

wherein the data conversion circuitry and the power conversion circuitry are disposed under the one or more inductors.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein each of the plurality of front-end amplifiers of each of the plurality of flexible probes comprises two CMOS transistors, wherein a gate terminal of at least one of the two CMOS transistors is input with the signal received from the corresponding electrode of the plurality of electrodes.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein the tail portion of each of the plurality of flexible probes comprises a plurality of metal layers on which a plurality of analog signal chain circuits are located, wherein each of the plurality of analog signal chain circuits comprises one of the plurality of front-end amplifiers.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein each of the plurality of analog signal chain circuits of each of the plurality of flexible probes is configured to process the signal received from the corresponding electrode of the plurality of electrodes, and wherein signal outputs of at least two of the plurality of analog signal chain circuits are multiplexed, amplified, and converted into a digital signal by an analog to digital converter for transmission to the wireless reader.

18. The system of claim 12, wherein the plurality of electrodes of each of the plurality of flexible probes are configured to detect an action potential in a dendritic field of the brain by identifying an adjacent electrode from the plurality of electrodes in each flexible probe recording the action potential.

19. The system of claim 12, wherein the tail portion of each of the plurality of flexible probes comprises a scalable circuit architecture in which the number of electrodes in the plurality of electrodes can be scaled to provide for an electrode to neuron ratio greater than 1.

20. The system of claim 12, wherein the head portion of each of the plurality of flexible probes is oriented subdurally to communicate with the wireless reader, and wherein the plurality of flexible probes are inserted in arbitrary locations with arbitrary orientations.

21. The system of claim 12, wherein the plurality of flexible probes are configured to be simultaneously inserted into and coupled to a plurality of brain areas to enable a quantitative study of the coordinated activation across the plurality of brain areas.

22. A method for performing for performing neural stimulation and recording on a subject, the method comprising:

inserting a plurality of flexible probes into a portion of a brain of the subject, each of the plurality of flexible probes comprising a tail portion and a head portion,

wherein the tail portion comprises a plurality of electrodes configured to be coupled to the brain and a plurality of front-end amplifiers,

wherein the head portion comprises one or more inductors configured to receive power from a wireless reader;

providing, by the one or more inductors, power received from the wireless reader to the plurality of flexible probes;

receiving, at the plurality of electrodes, a plurality of signals from the brain of the subject;

amplifying, at each of the plurality of front-end amplifiers, each of the plurality of signals from a corresponding electrode of the plurality of electrodes; and

transmitting, by the one or more inductors, the amplified plurality of signals to the wireless reader through a near-field inductive link.