A blog about what is new (and old) in the world of active implantable medical devices

Category Archives: Electrodes

Aleva Neurotherapeutic’s Ultra-Flexible Electrode Arrays for DBS

Posted on by Posted in Aleva Neurotherapeutics, Brain Stimulation, Electrodes, Parkinson's Disease
Aleva DBS electrode array www.implantable-device.com David Prutchi PhD

Miniature, ultra-flexible electrode (credit: EPFL)

Aleva Neurotherapeutics is a spinoff of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) Microsystems Laboratory.   Aleva is developing unique microfabricated devices to more specifically target deep-brain stimulation.

kurtzweilai.net recently published an interesting blog about the technology.  From the post:

“Miniature, ultra-flexible electrodes could be the answer to more successful treatment for Parkinson’s diseases, according to Professor Philippe Renaud of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland.

He has developed soft arrays of miniature electrodes in his Microsystems Laboratory that open new possibilities for more accurate and local deep brain stimulation (DBS).

Continue reading→

Biotectix

Posted on by Posted in Biotectix, Brain Stimulation, Cardiac Pacing, Electrode Materials, Electrodes, Tech Talk
Biotectix electrically conductive polymers for implantable devices
Image Credit: Biotectix

Biotectix of Ann Arbor, MI recently contacted me to let me know of new conductive polymer materials that they are developing to enhance the performance of next-gen implantable stimulation and sensing devices.

Indeed, their materials sound very promising.  According to Biotectix, their electrode coatings and device components are made from proprietary conducting polymers that provide intimate, long-term electrical and biological connections between implantable electrodes and the target tissue.  They offer the conductivity and stability of metals at a low-cost with the ease of processing and biological functionality of polymers. Continue reading→