NEURAL PROSTHETIC WITH TOUCH-LIKE SENSING

摘要

An apparatus and method is related to providing sensing functions that are similar to “human touch” when located in a prosthetic device such as a BION microstimulator that is implanted in a patient. The apparatus includes a power circuit, a communication circuit and a sensor circuit. The power circuit provides power to the communication circuit and the sensor circuit. The sensor cooperates with the communication circuit, which communicates to the brain. The sensor uses various techniques to detect changes in the environment for the surrounding tissue using criteria such as reflectivity, impedance, conductivity, return signal spectrum, return signal rate and return signal phase to name a few. For example, the impedance observed by the sensor changes when: the skin tissue is deformed around the sensor, or when the skin is surrounded by water. The sensory information is interpreted by the brain as an analog of touch or feel.

主权项

1. An implantable neural prosthetic sensor device that is implanted in tissue, comprising:
a tuned circuit that has a resonant frequency that varies as influenced by an environmental condition associated with the tissue; and a signal processor that is arranged to evaluate the tuned circuit resonant frequency to provide thereby sensory information.