Biocompatible bonding method and electronics package suitable for implantation
First Claim
1. An implantable device comprising:
- a substrate containing electrically conductive feedthroughs forming electrically conductive pads on a first side of said substrate;
a first flexible electrically insulating layer on said first side of said substrate;
said first flexible electrically insulating layer defining voids adjacent to said conductive pads;
a flexible electrically conducting layer on. said first flexible electrically insulating layer wherein at least a portion of said flexible electrically conducting layer physically contacts said conductive pads; and
a second flexible electrically insulating layer on said flexible electrically conductive layer.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention is directed to a method of bonding a hermetically sealed electronics package to an electrode or a flexible circuit and the resulting electronics package, that is suitable for implantation in living tissue, such as for a retinal or cortical electrode array to enable restoration of sight to certain non-sighted individuals. The hermetically sealed electronics package is directly bonded to the flex circuit or electrode by one of several methods, including attachment by an electrically conductive adhesive, such as epoxy or polyimide, containing platinum metal flake in biocompatible glue; diffusion bonding of platinum bumps covered by an insulating layer; thermal welding of wire staples; or an integrated interconnect fabrication. The resulting electronic device is biocompatible and is suitable for long-term implantation in living tissue.
92 Citations
55 Claims
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1. An implantable device comprising:
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a substrate containing electrically conductive feedthroughs forming electrically conductive pads on a first side of said substrate; a first flexible electrically insulating layer on said first side of said substrate; said first flexible electrically insulating layer defining voids adjacent to said conductive pads; a flexible electrically conducting layer on. said first flexible electrically insulating layer wherein at least a portion of said flexible electrically conducting layer physically contacts said conductive pads; and a second flexible electrically insulating layer on said flexible electrically conductive layer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of making an implantable device comprising:
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providing a substrate containing electrically conductive feedthroughs forming electrically conductive pads on a first side of said substrate; depositing a first flexible electrically insulating Layer on said first side of said substrate; defining voids in said first flexible electrically insulating layer adjacent to said conductive pads; depositing a flexible electrically conducting layer on said first flexible electrically insulating layer where at least a portion of said flexible electrically conducting layer and physically contacts said conductive pads; and depositing a second flexible electrically insulating layer on said flexible electrically conductive layer. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. An implantable electronic device comprising:
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a hermetic electronics control unit, a first thin film flexible electrically insulating substrate; an electrically conducting metal layer deposited on said first insulating layer; a second thin film flexible electrically insulating substrate deposited on said electrically conducting metal layer; at least one of said first flexible electrically insulating substrate or said second flexible electrically insulating substrate defining holes that expose said electrically conducting metal layer forming contacts and means for bonding said electronics'"'"'control unit to said implantable electronic device. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A method of bonding an iinplantable electronics control unit to a thin film flexible circuit for implantation as a neural interface, said method comprising the steps of:
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applying electrically conductive adhesive to input/output contacts of a hybrid substrate, applying electrically conductive adhesive to bond pads of a flexible electrically insulating substrate, placing said input/output contacts in alignment with said bond pads, and curing said conductive adhesive.
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41. A method of bonding two implantable devices comprising the steps of:
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studbumping bond pads of a first device with biocompatible materials; studbumping bond pads of a second device with biocompatible materials; placing said bond pods in alignment; and bonding said studbumps together by a thermomechanical process. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44)
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45. A method of bonding two implantable devices comprising the steps of:
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studbumping bond pads on a first device with gold studbumps; studbumping bond pads on a second device with gold studbumps; placing said bond pads in alignment; bonding said studbumps together by a thermomechanical process; and underfilling space between said first device and said second device with a water resistant insulating material. - View Dependent Claims (46)
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47. A method of bonding two implantable devices, said method comprising the steps of:
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locating a bond pad of a first substrate; modifying said bond pad forming a through hole at the center of said bond pad; aligning said through bole of flexible electrically insulating substrate with an input/output contact of a second substrate; placing wire across said through bole in said bond pad of said first substrate; bonding said wire to said input/output contact and to said bond pad; and cutting said wire near said bond pad. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50)
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51. A method of bonding two implantable devices, said method comprising the steps of:
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forming a tail-ball with a tail on a wire; bonding said tail-ball to an input/output contact of a first substrate; modifying a flexible electrically insulating substrate by forming a through hole adjacent to a bond pad of said second substrate; aligning said through hole of said second substrate with said tail; placing said tail through said through hole; bending said tail to contact said bond pad; and bonding said tail to said bond pad. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55)
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Specification