Case Western Reserve University

Other

Dominique M Durand

Brian Wodlinger

Grant McCallum

Dustin J Tyler

Benjamin Cottrill

Jonathan Jay Miller

Hans Luders

Mohamad Koubeissi

David Yuang Tang

Yazan M Dweiri

Grant Mccallum

Chen Qiu

Alicia L Jensen

Paul Byongsuk Yoo

Musa A Haxhiu

Mesut Sahin

Joseph Marmerstein

One aspect of the present disclosure relates to an oropharynx appliance that includes passive tongue retention structure having an end portion adapted to prevent a pharyngeal portion of a tongue of a subject from collapsing; and at least one anchoring structure that is connected to the passive tongue retention structure and adapted to secure the passive tongue retention structure to at least one tooth/mandible of the subject in a removable fashion. The passive tongue retention structure is sized and dimensioned so that the end portion prevents the posterior pharyngeal portion of the tongue from obstructing an oropharynx during sleep, without triggering a gag reflex, while still permitting the tongue to move during swallowing.

Oropharynx appliance to maintain airway patency

Obesity and other medical conditions can be managed using a closed-loop system, which uses one or more implantable recording electrodes, a processing device, and one or more implantable stimulating electrodes. The one or more implantable recording electrodes can record signals from a portion of one or more subdiaphragmatic branches of a patient's vagus nerve. The processing device can be configured to: receive the signals from the portion of the one or more subdiaphragmatic branches of the patient's vagus nerve, perform signal processing to decode the signals from the portion of the one or more subdiaphragmatic branches of the patient's vagus nerve, and configure a stimulation to decrease the patient's hunger and/or increase the patient's satiety based on the decoded signals. The one or more implantable stimulating electrodes can deliver the configured stimulation to another portion of one or more subdiaphragmatic branches of the patient's vagus nerve.

Closed-loop vagus nerve stimulation for the treatment of obesity

One aspect of the present disclosure relates to an oropharynx appliance that includes passive tongue retention structure () having an end portion () adapted to prevent a pharyngeal portion of a tongue of a subject from collapsing; and at least one anchoring structure () that is connected to the passive tongue retention structure and adapted to secure the passive tongue retention structure to at least one tooth/mandible of the subject in a removable fashion. The passive tongue retention structure is sized and dimensioned so that the end portion prevents the posterior pharyngeal portion of the tongue from obstructing an oropharynx during sleep, without triggering a gag reflex, while still permitting the tongue to move during swallowing.

One aspect of the present disclosure relates a method of diagnosis and/or treatment of a solid tumor. The method includes directly measuring neural activity within a solid tumor for a time and determining a state of the solid tumor based on the neural activity. The diagnosis and/or treatment can be determined based on the state of the solid tumor. In some instances, the neural activity can be used in a closed loop to detect the neural activity, determine the state, determine the risk, apply treatment, check again for neural activity, and cease treatment when the neural activity is gone.

Determining a state of a solid tumor based on neural activity within the solid tumor

A closed loop control system automatically ensures that an output of a device is constant. The system can receive an input to set a fixed value for a variable (e.g., a current, a heart rate, a tissue perfusion, an ion level, etc.), and this variable can be delivered to a feedback component. The system can also include the device to deliver the variable to a load. The feedback component can be coupled to the delivery device to sample the output of the delivery device at different times. Based on the sampling, the feedback component can vary a property of the delivery device related to the delivery of the variable to the load to ensure that the variable remains constant at the fixed value. In some instances, the system can be implemented as a stimulator that delivers the constant current of a current source and has a low output impedance of a voltage source.

Systems and methods for closed loop control to ensure a constant current output with a changing load resistance

A method for fabricating electrodes sized and dimensioned to record, measure, and/or stimulate very fine nerve structures (e.g., microscale or less) is described herein. The method can include securing a tip of an electrode, comprising a conductor substantially encased by an insulator, to a proximal portion of an inserter. The electrode can be wound around a proximal portion of the inserter and a portion of the electrode can be secured to a distal portion of the inserter. A tension in the electrode can be maintained during the winding to keep the electrode in place during the winding.

Methods for fabrication of an electrode delivery system

A system for reducing and/or eliminating noise in chronic neural recording of low amplitude neural signals from conscious, freely-moving subjects. Triboelectric noise effects are reduced or eliminated using in implant lead with insulating materials with charge affinities separated by 10 nC/J or less. The recording device can include a preamplifier device that uses capacitors with a low-distortion dielectric material.

Systems and methods for chronic neural recording

One aspect of the present disclosure can include an intrafascicular neural electrode. The intrafascicular neural electrode can include a microwire body having a proximal end, a distal anchoring end, and a middle portion extending between the proximal end and the distal anchoring end. The distal anchoring end can substantially match the mechanical and biological properties of the target nerve. The microwire body can have a middle anchoring portion extending between the proximal end and the distal end, wherein at least a portion of the distal end and/or the middle anchoring portion substantially match(es) the mechanical and biological properties of the target nerve. The electrode can be made of graphene. The microwire body, except for the distal anchoring end, can be coated with an insulation material, preferably with a biocompatible agent adsorbed onto the insulation material.

Neural electrodes and methods for implanting same

One aspect of the present disclosure relates to a system that monitors and detects obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The system includes an oropharynx protection appliance (), which includes a passive tongue retention structure () having an end portion adapted to prevent a pharyngeal portion of a tongue of a subject from collapsing and at least one anchoring structure () that is connected to the passive tongue retention structure and adapted to secure the passive tongue retention structure within the subject's mouth in a removable fashion. The system also includes a sensing system () attached to a portion of the oropharynx apparatus. The sensing system includes a sensor () to measure a position of the pharyngeal portion of the tongue to detect an obstruction of the oropharynx; and a wireless transceiver () to transmit data related to the obstruction of the oropharynx to a remote diagnostic device ().

Systems and methods for obstructive sleep apnea detection and monitoring

A stealthy conductor that may be placed inside a fascicle in the peripheral nervous system (PNS) is described. The conductor is placed using a targeted-fascicle or targeted-axon approach to improve specificity and signal to noise ratio (SNR). The conductor is part of a targeted fascicular interface device and is placed using an insertion tool in a manner that reduces nerve damage as compared to conventional systems. The conductor is so small (e.g., &#x3c;10 &#x3bc;m diameter) and so flexible (e.g., approximates flexibility of surrounding neuronal material) that biological reactions (e.g., recruitment of macrophages, edema) to the presence of the conductor may be reduced. The targeted fascicular interface device has an insulated portion and a non-insulated portion that may act as an electrode. The insulated portion may include materials that promote healing at the entry/exit site and that adhere to the perineurium.

Interfacing with the peripheral nervous system (PNS) using targeted fascicular interface device

The present disclose generally relates to a multichannel low-noise amplifier. At each input to the multichannel low-noise amplifiers, a plurality of transistors can be connected in parallel. This parallel connection decreases the voltage noise beyond what is possible using a single input transistor at each input. As an additional benefit, the initial operating region of the input transistors is not changed. The multichannel low-noise amplifier can be incorporated on a single integrated circuit chip to amplify biological signals to facilitate selective recording of a property (e.g., amplifying neural signals to facilitate selective recording of neural activity).

Multichannel ultra-low noise amplifier

The present disclose generally relates to a system that controls blood pressure based on feedback-based neural stimulation. The system can include an electrode implantable within a nerve (e.g., an intra-fascicular electrode). The system can also include a hermetically-sealed electronics module connected to the electrode to record data related to neural activity from the nerve. The data related to the neural activity is indicative of the blood pressure. The system can also include an external device to communicate with the hermetically-sealed electronics module to receive and analyze the data related to the neural activity.

Growing community of inventors

Solon, OH, United States of America

Dominique M Durand