Multimodal brain sensing lead

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10123717-B2
Application number	US-201213673312-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 9, 2012
Priority date	Nov 10, 2011
Publication date	Nov 13, 2018
Grant date	Nov 13, 2018

Abstract

A medical lead with at least a distal portion thereof implantable in the brain of a patient is described, together with methods and systems for using the lead. The lead is provided with at least two sensing modalities (e.g., two or more sensing modalities for measurements of field potential measurements, neuronal single unit activity, neuronal multi unit activity, optical blood volume, optical blood oxygenation, voltammetry and rheoencephalography). Acquisition of measurements and the lead components and other components for accomplishing a measurement in each modality are also described as are various applications for the multimodal brain sensing lead.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An implantable medical lead with multimodal sensing capability, the implantable medical lead configured for use with a host device, and comprising:
a lead body having a proximal portion and a distal portion, the lead body further characterized by at least one lumen extending between the proximal portion and the distal portion;
a plurality of electrical contacts at the proximal portion of the lead body, wherein the proximal portion is configured to be connected to the host device;
an electronics module including:
a main body housing electronic circuits including an amplifier and one or more of an analog-to-digital converter and a filter,
a proximal shaft extending from the main body and mechanically coupled to the distal portion of the lead body, the proximal shaft having a plurality of electrical connection points, each electrical connection point directly coupled to one of the plurality of electrical contacts at the proximal portion of the lead body by a conductor extending through the at least one lumen of the lead body, and
a distal shaft extending from the main body and having a plurality of electrical connection points; and

a plurality of components disposed on the distal shaft, each of the plurality of components electrically coupled to one or more of the electrical connection points on the distal shaft, wherein the plurality of components includes a plurality of macroelectrodes, a plurality of microelectrodes, a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs), and a plurality of photodetectors,
wherein the electronics module is configured to selectively enable a first sensing modality, including a neuronal single unit activity measurement modality, a neuronal multi unit activity measurement modality, an optical blood volume measurement modality or an optical blood oxygenation measurement modality, by establishing via time multiplexing one or more electrical connections between at least one of the plurality of components and the amplifier, and one or more electrical connections between the amplifier and one of the plurality of electrical connection points on the proximal shaft of the electronics module, and a second sensing modality, including a neuronal field potential measurement modality, or a rheoencephalography measurement modality, by establishing one or more direct electrical connections between at least one of the plurality of components and one of the plurality of electrical connection points on the proximal shaft of the electronics module, the one or more direct electrical connection being independent of the amplifier housed in the main body of the electronics module, wherein the lead is configured so that the first sensing modality includes signal amplification within the lead and the second sensing modality does not include signal amplification within the lead.

2. The implantable medical lead of claim 1 wherein:
the second sensing modality comprises the neuronal field potential measurement modality, and
the electronics module selectively enables the neuronal field potential measurement modality by establishing a first electrical connection between a first macroelectrode and a first electrical connection point on the proximal shaft and establishing a second electrical connection between a second macroelectrode and a second electrical connection point on the proximal shaft.

3. The implantable medical lead of claim 1 wherein:
the first sensing modality comprises the single or multi unit neuronal activity measurement modality, and
the electronics module selectively enables the single or multi unit neuronal activity measurement modality by selecting a first microelectrode as an input to the amplifier, selecting a second microelectrode as a reference for the amplifier, and establishing an electrical connection between an output of the amplifier and an electrical connection point on the proximal shaft.

4. The implantable medical lead of claim 1 wherein:
the first sensing modality comprises the single or multi unit neuronal activity measurement modality, and
the electronics module selectively enables the single or multi unit neuronal activity measurement modality by selecting a microelectrode as an input to the amplifier, selecting a macroelectrode as a reference for the amplifier, and establishing an electrical connection between an output of the amplifier and an electrical connection point on the proximal shaft.

5. The implantable medical lead of claim 1 wherein: the first sensing modality comprises the optical blood volume measurement modality or the optical blood oxygenation measurement modality, and the electronics module selectively enables the optical blood volume measurement modality or the optical blood oxygenation measurement modality by providing a power signal to an LED to thereby illuminate the LED, connecting an input of the amplifier to a photodetector associated with the illuminated LED, and establishing an electrical connection between an output of the amplifier and an electrical connection point on the proximal shaft.

6. The implantable medical lead of claim 1 wherein:
the second sensing modality comprise the rheoencephalography measurement modality, and
the electronics module selectively enables the rheoencephalography measurement modality by establishing a first electrical connection between a first macroelectrode and a first electrical connection point on the proximal shaft, establishing a second electrical connection between a second macroelectrode and a second electrical connection point on the proximal shaft, establishing a third electrical connection between a third macroelectrode and a third electrical connection point on the proximal shaft, and establishing a fourth electrical connection between a fourth macroelectrode and a fourth electrical connection point on the proximal shaft.

7. The implantable medical lead of claim 1 wherein the plurality of LEDs and the plurality of photodetectors are arranged on the distal shaft to form at least one optoelectronic package comprising a first LED, a second LED, and a photodetector between the first LED and the second LED.

8. The implantable medical lead of claim 7 , wherein the distal shaft is cylindrical and a first optoelectronic package and a second optoelectronic package are arranged 180 degrees from each other around a circumference of the distal shaft.

9. The implantable medical lead of claim 1 wherein the plurality of microelectrodes is arranged on the distal shaft to form at least one microelectrode assembly comprising at least two microelectrodes.

10. The implantable medical lead of claim 9 wherein the distal shaft is cylindrical and the microelectrode assembly comprises four microelectrodes arranged 90 degrees from each other around a circumference of the distal shaft.

11. The implantable medical lead of claim 1 , wherein the electronics module comprises:
a plurality of electrically conductive circuit paths extending between one or more of the electronic circuits housed in the main body and one or more of the electrical connection points on the proximal shaft; and
a plurality of electrically conductive circuit paths extending between one or more of the electronic circuits housed in the main body and one or more of the electrical connection points on the distal shaft.

12. The implantable medical lead of claim 1 , wherein each of the main body, proximal shaft and distal shaft of the electronics module is characterized by an outer diameter, and the outer diameter of the main body is greater than the outer diameter of the distal shaft and the proximal shaft.

13. The implantable medical lead of claim 1 , wherein each of the main body

Assignees

• Neuropace Inc

Inventors

• Tcheng Thomas K

Classifications

• A61B5/0261

  using optical means, e.g. infrared light · CPC title

• A61N1/0531

  Brain cortex electrodes · CPC title

• A61B5/14553

  specially adapted for cerebral tissue · CPC title

• A61B5/7278

  Artificial waveform generation or derivation, e.g. synthesizing signals from measured signals · CPC title

• A61N1/36064

  Epilepsy · CPC title