Feasibility of a Wireless Implantable Multi-electrode System for High-bandwidth Prosthetic Interfacing: Animal and Cadaver Study.

Background: Currently used prosthetic solutions in upper extremity amputation have limited functionality, owing to low information transfer rates of neuromuscular interfacing. Although surgical innovations have expanded the functional potential of the residual limb, available interfaces are inefficacious in translating this potential into improved prosthetic control. There is currently no implantable solution for functional interfacing in extremity amputation which offers long-term stability, high information transfer rates, and is applicable for all levels of limb loss.

Functional Electrical Stimulation of the Feline Larynx With a Flexible Ribbon Electrode Array.

Objectives: Success of laryngeal reanimation through neurorrhaphy has been limited by synkinesis and preoperative muscle atrophy. The objective of this study was to investigate the use of epimysial electrode arrays as a means of delivering electrical stimulation to the posterior cricoarytenoid muscles in order to control laryngeal abduction.

Methods: Ribbon electrode arrays with 4 or 8 electrode contacts were used.

Implantable multichannel wireless electromyography for prosthesis control.

We have developed a prototype implantable device for recording multiple independent channels of EMG and sending those signals wirelessly to an external receiver. This design records multichannel EMG signals for providing simultaneous multi-axis control of prosthetic limbs. This proof-of-concept study demonstrates benchtop performance of the bioamplifier in dry and soaked in saline configurations, as well as system performance in a short-term in vivo study in six dogs.

Intravenous electrocardiographic guidance for placement of peripherally inserted central catheters.

Background: Correct positioning of peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs) is essential to avoid complications. We evaluated intravenous electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings during PICC placement to assess the effectiveness of this guidance technique to reduce complications resulting from incorrect catheter placement.

Methods: Six patients undergoing PowerPICC catheter insertion were included in this pilot study.

Field deployable EEG monitor for nerve agent casualties.

Early recognition and aggressive management of seizure activity is important in the treatment of patients with nerve agent exposure. However, these patients can experience non-convulsive seizures that are difficult to identify without EEG monitoring. In this paper, we discuss the development and testing of a low-cost, field-deployable device that records and displays patient EEG trends over time.

Simultaneous, proportional, multi-axis prosthesis control using multichannel surface EMG.

Most upper limb prosthesis controllers only allow the individual selection and control of single joints of the limb. The main limiting factor for simultaneous multi-joint control is usually the availability of reliable independent control signals that can intuitively be used. In this paper, a novel method is presented for extraction of individual muscle source signals from surface EMG array recordings, based on EMG energy orthonormalization along principle movement vectors.

Control of skeletal muscle force with currents injected via an intrafascicular, microelectrode array.

In spinal cord injured patients, the reanimation of dysfunctional limbs has been achieved with extrinsic stimulation of skeletal muscle via surface, epimysial, and nerve cuff electrodes. However, these neural interfaces have a number of significant problems that are mitigated by the use of electrodes that are inserted directly into the nerves that innervate targeted muscles. These problems, and their mitigation by one embodiment of an intrafascicular electrode array, the Utah Slanted Electrode Array, are the subject of this paper.

Selective motor unit recruitment via intrafascicular multielectrode stimulation.

Recruitment of force via independent asynchronous firing of large numbers of motor units produces the grace and endurance of physiological motion. We have investigated the possibility of reproducing this physiological recruitment strategy by determining the selectivity of access to large numbers of independent motor units through intrafascicular multielectrode stimulation (IFMS) of the peripheral nerve. A Utah Slanted Electrode Array containing 100, 0.

Interleaved, multisite electrical stimulation of cat sciatic nerve produces fatigue-resistant, ripple-free motor responses.

We studied the use of physiologically based, multisite, intrafascicular electrical stimulation of the sciatic nerve to achieve ripple-free contractions and sustained, fatigue-resistant forces over a physiological range of forces in cat gastrocnemius muscle. Electrode arrays containing 100, 0.5-1.