Biocompatible ribbon cable with narrow folded section
AssigneeCalifornia Institute of Technology
InventorsYu-Chong Tai, Han-Chieh Chang
Life of this patent
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Abstract
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.
Claims20
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.
A ribbon cable apparatus for connecting through a membrane, the apparatus comprising:
- a ribbon cable having an aperture integrally formed therethrough, an electrical conductor passing on one side of the aperture and another electrical conductor passing on another side of the aperture, the ribbon cable being laterally folded over into a stack with a longitudinal crease through the aperture such that a portion of the folded-over ribbon cable proximate the aperture is narrower than a portion of the folded-over ribbon cable not proximate to the aperture.
A method of manufacturing an apparatus for connecting through a membrane, the method comprising:
- forming a biocompatible ribbon cable using chemical vapor deposition, photoresist application, and etching, the ribbon cable having a bypass portion that splits from a center portion of the ribbon cable to define an aperture through the ribbon cable;
- and
- folding, along a line through the aperture, the bypass portion over the center portion to form a stack such that the stack of the center and bypass portions is narrower than another portion of the ribbon cable.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.