New Biometric Coating for Neural Implants Improves Outcomes
Neural implants are used all over the world to treat disease, rehabilitate the body after injury, improve memory, and communicate with prosthetic limbs. The field is growing so rapidly that the federal funding agencies and private sectors have devoted hundreds of millions of dollars towards funding this sector. Current studies of implantable neural electrode arrays for neural recording and stimulation have demonstrated both research and clinical potential.
Description
The clinical translation of neural implants has been hindered by an unreliable performance caused by reactive tissue responses. In general, the yield or percentage of channels that record single unit activity is low, the signal recorded is unstable and the signal to noise ratio deteriorates over time. University of Pittsburgh researchers have found a solution. By coating the surface of neural probes with neural adhesion molecule L1, isolated from brain tissue, neuronal density is promoted while glial reaction is attenuated. Meanwhile, neural recording quality is drastically improved with remarkably high unit amplitude and unit yield across weeks and months.Applications
• Brain-based disorders including Parkinson's disease and epilepsy• Quadriplegic patients with mind-controlled prostheses
• Patients with dystonia, tinnitus, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and neuropathic pain
Advantages
• First coating to demonstrate a neural recording quality that is drastically improved• High unit amplitude and yield last for months