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Spinal cord implant systems and methods

Spinal cord implant systems and methods description/claims

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/881,056 filed on Jan. 17, 2007, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein.

Neural interfaces have emerged as possible interventions to reduce the burden associated with some neurological diseases, injuries, and disabilities, such as spinal cord injuries which can cause reduced sensation and mobility by damaging the nerve pathways between the brain and the rest of the body. Many neural interfaces take advantage of cortical plasticity, which is the brain's ability to reorganize its functions and their locations within the brain in response to chronic changes in the received sensory information.

Researchers have considered implanting electrode devices to detect nerve signals or stimulate nerves. For example, signals detected in the brain or peripheral nervous system may be used to help control devices outside the body, such as cursors on a computer screen or prostheses; cochlear implants for the deaf stimulate auditory nerves in response to sounds; and stimulation of the spinal cord has been considered for restoring genitourinary and bowel motor functions. Studies of spinal cord recording include: Borisoff J. F., McPhail L. T., Saunders J. T., Birch G. E., Ramer M. S., Detection and classification of sensory information from acute spinal cord recordings. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering. 53 (8):1715-9, 2006. Sahin M., Information capacity of the corticospinal tract recordings as a neural interface. Annals of Biomedical Engineering. 32 (6):823-30, 2004. Patton H. D. and Amassian V. E., Single and multi unit analysis of cortical stage of pyramidal tract activation. Journal of Neurophysiology. 17:345-63, 1954.

For persons suffering from paralysis due to spinal cord injury, attempts to restore motor function have relied on retraining any undamaged nerve pathways and stimulating nerves with signals generated independently of brain signals. Studies of spinal cord stimulation include: Philip Troyk, Martin Bak, Joshua Berg, David Bradley, Stuart Cogan, Robert Erickson, Conrad Kufta, Douglas McCreery, Edward Schmidt, and Vernon Towle. A Model for Intracortical Visual Prosthesis Research. Artificial Organs. 27 (11): 1005-1015, 2003. Jonathan Coulombe, Sylvain Carniguian, and Mohamad Sawan, A Power Efficient Electronic Implant for a Visual Cortical Neuroprosthesis, Artificial Organs. 29 (3):233-238.2005.

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