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US 11,026,842 B2Granted
Method of providing agents to the cochlea
AssigneeNewSouth Innovations Pty Limited
InventorGary David Housley
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Abstract
Provided is a method of transfecting cells of the cochlea with an agent by electroporation, and in certain embodiments using a cochlear implant to provide at least one electroporation electrode.
Claims15
A cochlear implant, comprising:
- auditory nerve stimulator circuitry to generate an auditory nerve stimulator electrical pulse profile;
- a linear array of electrodes configured as a series of independently addressable nodes along a length of the cochlear implant which lies within the cochlea, each of the series of independently addressable nodes coupled to the auditory nerve stimulator circuitry for providing the auditory nerve stimulator electrical pulse profile to the cochlea;
- and
- electroporation-driving circuitry, separate from the auditory nerve stimulator circuitry, coupled to a plurality of the independently addressable nodes of the linear array of electrodes of the cochlear implant for electroporation using one or more electrodes as anodes and one or more other electrodes interspersed along the linear electrode array as cathodes for electroporation current delivery such that the cochlear implant can generate an electroporation mode electrical pulse profile delivering high field strength current, and
- provide the electroporation electrical pulse profiles to the cochlea via the plurality of addressable nodes to transfect cells along the length of the linear array.
2 more elements
An electroporation apparatus for transfecting cells of the cochlea with an agent, the apparatus comprising:
- an electroporation electrode array shaped to model a cochlear implant prosthesis configured for temporary insertion into the cochlear for performing electroporation and subsequently removed, the electroporation electrode array being electrically conductive at its surface along one or more portions of the entire length of the electrode, and electrically non-conductive at its surface along other portions of its length to provide a linear array of two or more contiguous electrodes, without tissue in between, to be driven as anodes and cathodes for electroporation;
- and
- external electroporation-driving circuitry connected to the electrodes of the electroporation electrode array and configured to provide electroporation electrical pulse profiles having a square wave or ramped electroporation stimulus with pulse width from 100 μs to 500 ms and a voltage of at least 10 volts via the electroporation electrode array, to drive the electrodes in the linear array as anodes and cathodes to generate an electric field adjacent the array to transfect cells in tissue adjacent the linear array.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.