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US 11,376,423 B2Granted
Medical electroporation
AssigneeCochlear Limited
InventorsTorsten Lehmann, Paul Michael Carter, John Michael Heasman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Presented herein are techniques that enable electroporation of the cells of a recipient of a tissue-stimulating prostheses while the tissue-stimulating prosthesis is implanted in the recipient. Tissue-stimulating prostheses in accordance with embodiments presented herein are configured such that the stimulation electronics (e.g., current sources and integrated circuit) of the prosthesis are not exposed to the high voltages used in electroporation.
Claims24
A method, comprising:
- positioning a plurality of stimulation electrodes of a tissue-stimulating prosthesis proximate to cells of a recipient, wherein the stimulation electrodes are each electrically connected to one or more current sources included in a stimulator unit of the tissue-stimulating prosthesis;
- positioning one or more electroporation electrodes proximate to the cells of the recipient, wherein the one or more electroporation electrodes are electrically connected to an external electroporation system via the stimulator unit, wherein the stimulator unit comprises an electroporation protection circuit comprising a plurality of switches;
- applying high-voltage electroporation signals to the cells of the recipient using at least one of the one or more electroporation electrodes, where the high-voltage electroporation signals are at least one of sourced to the at least one of the one or more electroporation electrodes or sunk from the at least one of the one or more electroporation electrodes via the stimulator unit;
- and
- selectively actuating one or more switches in the electroporation protection circuit to isolate the one or more current sources while the high-voltage electroporation signals pass through the stimulator unit.
2 more elements
A system, comprising:
- at least one electroporation electrode configured to be positioned in a recipient of a tissue-stimulating prosthesis proximate to cells of the recipient;
- a plurality of stimulation electrodes configured to be positioned in the recipient proximate to the cells of the recipient;
- a stimulator unit electrically connected to each of the plurality of stimulation electrodes and the electroporation electrodes, wherein the stimulator unit comprises an electroporation protection circuit and stimulation electronics including one or more current sources;
- and
- an external electroporation system electrically connected to the at least one electroporation electrode via the stimulator unit and configured to apply high-voltage electroporation signals to the cells of the recipient, wherein the high-voltage electroporation signals are at least one of sourced to the at least one electroporation electrode or sunk from the at least one electroporation electrode via the stimulator unit;
- wherein the electroporation protection circuit is configured to enable the high-voltage electroporation signals to pass through the stimulator unit while isolating the one or more current sources from the high-voltage electroporation signals.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.