BIOCOMPATIBLE RIBBON CABLE WITH NARROW FOLDED SECTION

摘要

A biocompatible, micro-fabricated ribbon cable is described in which at least one set of conductors diverges laterally into a bypass wing that forms an aperture through the ribbon cable. The bypass wing is folded in a line through the aperture and over a central portion of the ribbon cable, resulting in a ribbon cable with a narrow, stacked region. The narrow region can fit through small incisions in membranes, such as through an incision in a sclera of an eyeball. The ribbon cable can have an integrally-formed electrode array for attaching to a retina of an eyeball and other electronics for sending signals to the electrode array.

主权项

1. A ribbon cable apparatus for connecting through a membrane, the apparatus comprising:
a first ribbon cable portion; a second ribbon cable portion; a central ribbon cable portion supporting a first subset of electrical conductors extending between the first and second ribbon cable portions, the central ribbon cable portion being narrower than each of the first and second ribbon cable portions; a bypass ribbon cable portion supporting a second subset of electrical conductors extending between the first and second ribbon cable portions, the bypass ribbon cable portion being narrower than each of the first and second ribbon cable portions, the bypass ribbon cable portion diverging laterally from the central ribbon cable portion and being folded over the central ribbon cable portion into a stack such that the stack is narrower than the first and second ribbon cable portions.