Multiple electrodes and connecting wires for neural and muscular stimulation and measurement device

Abstract

A device to make multiple, simultaneous measurements of electrical activity on neural, muscular and other animal cells. The invention discloses multiple electrodes at fixed position on a supporting structure and multiple wires to connect the electrodes to one or more measuring devices. The electrodes are preferentially closed spaced, to allow for small spatial discrimination between measurement points. The electrodes and the wires are selected by binary addresses. The device is also capable of injecting electrical stimulation using electrodes not in use for measurements. An injected electrical stimulation at a first location may be created to measure the effect of a well-known event at another location or locations, near or far away.

Claims

1. A device for measuring an electrical signal occurring in cells and/or for stimulating cells, comprising: a measuring and/or recording instrument, an electric energy storage, and a control electronics; an electronic addressing means capable of transmitting electronic address bits and/or control bits over a wireless device; a picafina device body with a proximal extremity, a distal extremity, an inner body and an outer surface; a plurality of measuring and/or stimulating electrodes on the outer surface of the picafina in fixed relative positions at the distal extremity; a plurality of first on/off switches, each of the first on/off switches associated with one of the measuring and/or stimulating electrodes for selecting the associated measuring and/or stimulating electrode; a first plurality of wires running inside the body of the picafina with a proximal extremity and a distal extremity; a second plurality of wires running outside the picafina with a proximal extremity and a distal extremity; wherein the first plurality of wires have wires comprising a group of electric power wires, each electric power wire at a different voltage level and/or a group comprising wires to carry a respective measured voltage level from one of the measuring and/or stimulating electrodes, the first plurality of wires being connected to the measuring and/or stimulating electrodes via the plurality of first on/off switches at their distal extremity and to the second plurality of wires at their proximal extremity; a plurality of second on/off switches, each of the second on/off switches associated with one of the wires belonging to the first plurality of wires running inside the body; the second plurality of wires running outside the picafina device body configured to connect the first plurality of wires to at least one element of the group consisting of: the measuring and/or recording instrument, the electric energy storage, and the control electronics; the electronic addressing means having sufficient bits to form a first address to uniquely identify each of the measuring an/or stimulating electrodes and to form a second address to uniquely identify each of the wires from the first plurality of wires; a plurality of first address decoders, wherein each of the first address decoders having a first unique digital address is capable of selecting the state of one of the first on/off switches according to the first address from the electronic addressing means; a plurality of second address decoders, wherein each of the second address decoders having a second unique digital address is capable of selecting the state of the second on/off switches according to the second address from the electronic addressing means; wherein the first address asserted on the electronic addressing means is and [sic] to the first address decoders at the picafina is compared to the first unique digital addresses of the first address decoders and when the respective first unique address of one of the first address decoders is equal to the first address asserted on the electronic addressing means, that first address decoder causes the associated first on/off switch to enter the “on” state to select the associated one of the measuring and/or stimulating electrodes, and/or the second address asserted on the addressing means and conveyed to the second address decoders at the picafina is compared to the second unique digital addresses of the second address decoders, and when the respective second unique address of one of the second address decoders is equal to the second address asserted on the electronic addressing means, thea second address decoder causes the associated second on/off switch to enter the “on” state to select the associated one of the wires from the first plurality of wires, thereby creating a completed electrical connection between the selected measuring and/or stimulating electrode and the selected one of the wires from the first plurality of wires; wherein the measuring and/or stimulating electrodes are configured to measure the electrical signal values at the cells next to the respective measuring and/or stimulating electrodes and/or to apply a stimulating electric furrent to the cells in the vicinity of the measuring and/or stimulating electrode.

2. The device of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of electrical amplifiers, each electrical amplifier between each one of the measuring and/or stimulating electrodes and the associated first on/off switch.

3. The device of claim 1 further comprising a means for connecting in parallel a subset of the plurality of the measuring and/or stimulating electrodes to one of the wires from the first plurality of wires, the means capable of latching the on state of each of the first on/off switches, wherein the subset of the plurality of the measuring and/or stimulating electrodes act together as a larger surface measuring electrode.

4. The device of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of latching/unlatching circuits, each one of the latching/unlatching circuits being capable of being latched and/or unlatched by a circuit activated by a command carried by the control electronics over the wireless device, each one of the latching and/or unlatching circuits associated with one of the first on/off switches and with one of the second on/off switches, the plurality of latching/unlatching circuits configured for keeping the completed electrical connection made by the first on/off switches and the second on/off switches for an indefinite amount of time until unlatched by the latching/unlatching circuit.

5. The device of claim 1 wherein the second plurality of wires connects the first plurality of wires to the electric energy storage, and the electric energy storage is a variable level electric energy storage configured to apply variable levels of electric potentials and/or currents to selected measuring and/or stimulating electrodes according th their unique digital addresses, via the second plurality of wires and the first plurality of wires, wherein the selected measuring and/or stimulating electrodes act as source of electrical stimulation to the cells around the selected measuring and/or stimulating electrodes.

6. A device for measuring an electrical signal occurring in cells and/or for stimulating cells, comprising: a measuring and/or recording instrument, an electric energy storage, and a control electronics; a picafina device body with a proximal extremity, a distal extremity, an inner body and an outer surface; a plurality of measuring and/or stimulating electrodes on the outer surface of the picafina in fixed relative positions at the distal extremity; a plurality of first on/off switches, each of the first on/off switches associated with one of the measuring and/or stimulating electrodes for selecting the associated measuring and/or stimulating electrodes; a first plurality of wires running in the body and having a proximal extremity and a distal extremity; a second plurality of wires running outside the picafina; wherein the first plurality of wires have wires comprising a group of electric power wires, each electric power wire at a different voltage level and/or a group consisting of wires to carry a measured voltage level from one of the measuring and/or stimulating electrodes, the first plurality of wires being connected to the measuring and/or stimulating electrodes via the plurality of first on/off switches at their distal extremity and to the second plurality of wires on their proximal extremity; a plurality of second on/off switches, each of the second on/off switches associated with one of the wires belonging to the first plurality of wires running in the body of the picafina; the second plurality of wires running outside the picafina device body configured to connect the first plurality of wires to at least one element of the group consisting of: the measuring and/or recording instrument, the electric energy storage, and the control electronics; a timer electronic circuit that controls the duration of the “on” time of the first on/off switches and the “on” time of the second on/off switches, such that once one of the plurality of the first or second on/off switches is turned “on” it is kept in the “on” state for a predetermined time, after which the timer electronic circuit moves the switch to the “off” state, wherein the measuring and/or stimulating electrodes are configured to measure the electrical signal values at the body cells next to the respective measuring and/or stimulating electrodes and/or to apply a stimulating electric current to the cells in the vicinity of the measuring and/or stimulating electrodes.

7. The device of claim 6 further comprising a plurality of electrical amplifiers, each electrical amplifier between each one of the measuring and/or stimulating electrodes and the associated first on/off switch.

8. The device of claim 6 further comprising a means for connecting in parallel a subset of the plurality of the measuring and/or stimulating electrodes to one of the wires from the first plurality of wires, the means capable of latching the on state of each of the first on/off switches, wherein the subset of the plurality of the measuring and/or stimulating electrodes act together as a larger surface measuring electrode.

9. The device of claim 6 wherein the second plurality of wires connects the first plurality of wires to the electric energy storage, and the electric energy storage is a variable level electric energy storage configured to apply a variable levels of electric potentials and/or currents to selected measuring and/or stimulating electrodes according to their digital addresses, wherein the selected measuring and/or stimulating electrodes act as source of electrical stimulation to the cells around the selected measuring and/or stimulating electrodes.

Description

DRAWINGS

[0039] FIG. 1 shows an oblique view of a possible embodiment the picafina of our invention

[0040] FIG. 2 shows the end of the picafina also with three rows of electrodes equally space as in FIG. 1 but with electrodes of a square shape.

[0041] FIG. 3 shows the end of the picafina also with three rows of electrodes equally spaced as in FIG. 1 but with elongated electrodes along the circumference direction.

[0042] FIGS. 4a, and 4b, show another version of the picafina of our invention with a larger number of smaller electrodes for a larger electrode density as compared with FIGS. 1 through 3. FIGS. 4a, and 4b, depict a perspective view, and a proximal end view of this version. Cf with FIG. 10, which does not have pads on the concave tip of the distal end of the picafina. These are examples of modifications to adapt to particular needs, all within the scope of our invention.

[0043] FIGS. 5a and 5b show variations on current art of picafina that can be implemented with existing technologies that allow a small number of electrical contacts.

[0044] FIGS. 6a and 6b show an alternate profile for the picafina.

[0045] FIG. 7a and FIG. 7b show a block diagram of a possible electrical connection for the picafina of our invention laid on a picafina cross section perpendicular to its long, or z-dimension. Note that FIG. 8 is similar with the added multiplicity of measuring wires disclosed in the second embodiment. To avoid over-complication, only one of the measuring tips and its connections is shown in the cross section, similar circuits existing to serve each of the tips 110 at the surface of the device. Also to avoid over-complication, only three address lines are shown; typical devices use 8 and more address lines, to address 256 (2 power 8) measuring tips 110 and more. The ground wire can be connected to one or more of the tips 110, with similar circuits.

[0046] FIG. 8a and FIG. 8b show, in addition to the elements shown in FIG. 7, the added multiple measuring wires disclosed in a second embodiment. The physical lay-out of some of the similar electronic circuits that connect each of the tips on the surface of the picafina to the measurement wire that run inside the picafina along the z-direction. The tips shown are all at a particular fixed distance from either end of said picafina, or around a circular path on said picafina, as if along a ring on said picafina. Several such circuits are stacked along the longer dimension of the picafina (different z-coordinate), each serving to connect one of the tips that comprise that particular “ring” to the wire connecting to the measuring instruments.

[0047] FIGS. 9a and 9b show two possible address decoders, (a) set to decode for the address 1 decimal=1 Hexadecimal=0000 0001 Binary, (b) set to decode for the address 12 Decimal=C Hexadecimal=0000 1100 Binary. Each address decoder has a different configuration of inverters, each different decoder associated with a measuring tip.

[0048] FIG. 10 shows a main embodiment of our invention with 12 electric tips or pads around the circumference of the picafina (or a “ring” of tips), 16 such “rings” and no electric tip on the concave extremity of the picafina.

[0049] FIG. 11 shows a window environment with the drop-down menus for programming the Doctor's Programming Unit (DPU)

[0050] FIG. 12 shows a picafina with redundant wires at its proximal end.

DRAWINGS

List of Reference Numerals

[0051] h_1=length of the distal part of the picafina, which is sometimes devoid of electrical tips.

[0052] h_2=length of the middle part of the picafina, which is populated with electrical tips.

[0053] h_3=length of the proximal part of the picafina, which is devoid of electrical tips.

[0054] 100=body of picafina of our invention.

[0055] 110_xx_yy=tips/electrical contacts on the surface of body 100. These are the actual neural sensors. xx and yy are indexes for the tips; for example, xx could indicate a set of tips at the same distance from the extremities (or a z-coordinate on a cylindrical coordinate system), and yy could indicate an angular coordinate (or a theta coordinate on a cylindrical coordinate system). In the main embodiment xx takes any value from 01 to 16, while yy takes any value from 01 to 12. As is appreciated by anyone familiar with the art, 12 and 16 are exemplary numbers only, the same principle being valid for any quantity of tips. In particular, our invention allows for many thousands of tips, when the numbers could typically be: radius of tip=0.1 mm (100 micrometers), center-to-center distance between tips=0.2 mm (200 micrometers), 75 tips on the 2.5 mm diameter picafina of FIG. 10, 20 rings equally spaced at 0.2 mm from each other along the z-dimention, on a total 4 mm length along the picafina populated with 1,500 measuring tips. These are possible typical values which do not limit our invention, as any person skilled in the art will notice that such dimensions must be adjusted to each particular application.

[0056] 810_xx_yy=on/off electronic switch that connect each electrical tip to the common measuring wire(s), also indicated as 810-x, when referring to any of the possible switches.

[0057] 830_xx_yy=address decoders for the measuring tips

[0058] 831_xx_yy=demultiplexers for signal wires that carry the signal from the measuring tips to the proximal end of the picafina. It could also be address decoders to make this connection or any other similar device.

[0059] 200=address lines, or address bus

[0060] 200 tip=address lines used for the tip selection

[0061] 200 wire=address lines used for the signal wire selection

[0062] 210=electrical power wire.

[0063] 211=measurement (signal) wire

[0064] 212=ground wire

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Description of Our Invention—Short, Electrical Engineering Version of Preferred Embodiment

[0065] We start with a succinct description suitable for electrical engineers, then follow with a detailed description for wider audiences. The problem that our invention address is to make electric voltage (or current) measurements from internal body parts, as brain, spinal cord, heart or muscles, which may even be not visually accessible. The target point of measurement may also be difficult to locate precisely. To get around the difficulty, or even impossibility, of precisely positioning a relatively small measuring probe next to a desirable, target neuron (for example), that the researcher or the neurosurgeon may not even able to see, our invention discloses a device, here called picafina, which is larger than the hard to locate point of interest. This picafina is then approximately placed in the target location. Such picafina is covered with a multitude of surface electrodes or tips, here called measuring tips, or simply tips, which are of such a size and placement as to cover all the potentially desired points—and more. Given the small size of the tips, as indicated in FIG. 10, and their close proximity to each other, spanning all the potential area of interest, some of the tips 110_xx_yy should be close enough to some of the several or single potential points of interest. After a surgeon inserts such device, the picafina, either the surgeon or a nurse or a technician can select which tips to use, typically by observing the measurements from each tip, one at a time.

[0066] Using common techniques of semiconductor and printed circuit board manufacture, it is relatively easy to make a large number (many thousands and more) of relatively small tips (sizes of the order of micrometer or even sub-micrometer) on the surface of the picafina, at its distal extremity, as illustrated in FIG. 10, with the objective of later selecting one or another tip, to precisely control the place where to collect the data, but it turns out that there is a stringent limit on the number of wires that may be pulled inside the picafina to connect these tips to the measuring equipment, because these wires have to go through the limited space available in the body. So, in animals, including human beings, the limited space available for the larger wires limits the number of smaller tips possible to use—each tip needs a wire connecting it to the measuring device. For research with small animals, such as mice, or even insects (Wilson (2004)), current technology can put a many dozen and rarely a few hundreds wires at maximum in the limited available space, therefore a few dozen (or hundreds) tips only can be used (Gregoire Courtine, private communication). To make use of more tips than wires to connect them to an external instrument, the main embodiment of this invention discloses the use of a digital addressing system, which connects one tip at a time to the measuring device. The tip is chosen with the objective of measuring at a particular location, which can be later changed. These locations can be in close proximity, closer than individual tips in prior art could be individually positioned. Jumping from a particular tip to a nearby one, the researcher or neurologist has the possibility of selecting measurement positions with as much accuracy as the tips are apart from each other. Moreover, there is a need to keep more than one tip connected to the measuring device, so this invention discloses a latch which assures that once a measuring tip is connected to the measuring wire, it stays connected even after its address is no longer asserted on the address bus. This aggregate permits the construction of the equivalent of a larger tip, composed of the aggregate of several small tips covering an area as large as needed, up to the total area of all the tips together.

[0067] It is envisaged that a signal amplifier (not shown) may exist between the measuring tip 110 and the switch 810 to boost the small signal captured by the measuring tip.

[0068] It is also envisaged that switches 810 can be doubled (not shown) for each measuring pad 110, to select whether the pad is connected to a measuring wire or to a ground or reference wire, which can be selected to be near of far from the measuring tip, as needed.

Description of Our Invention—Detailed Version of Preferred Embodiment

[0069] A more detailed description of our invention is as follows. FIG. 10 shows a perspective view of a basic version of our invention for a particular main embodiment used for deep brain measurements (say, near de subthalamic nucleus). Starting from the distal extremity (concave, hemispherical extremity in FIG. 10) of the picafina of our invention, and following now only the external features of it, there is a solid, smooth and concave part of length h_1=2.5 mm (typical value), on the surface, inside of which there is no useful feature. Continuing on the z-dimension towards the proximal, flat extremity, next comes the part populated with the electrical tips, on a length h_2=25 mm. In the inner part of it there are wires and electronics described in the sequel. This is followed by another smooth part on a length h_3=45 mm, for a total length equal to 72.5 mm. These are typical values, see FIG. 10, for insertion in the brain of a human animal; for measurements in other parts of a human animal, or for measurements in other animals of different size, the sizes have to be adjusted as needed, without detracting from the disclosure of the invention. Inside this distal part h_2 runs wires as described in the sequel. The distal end h_1 is shaped as indicated in FIG. 10 to facilitate the insertion of the picafina into the mush brain tissue, while the proximal end (near the skull) is flat to facilitate the electrical connections and mechanical sealing. Other affixing features, as tapped holes for screws at the flat proximal end and equivalent features are not shown for simplicity. At the picafina's proximal end there are a number of wire endings with the necessary means for connection to extension wires. In this main embodiment there is only one measurement wire 211 (voltage measurements), one power wire 210 (to bring power to the electronics inside the picafina), one ground (return) wire 212 and a plurality of address wires 200 (8 in this main embodiment). As known to the practitioners of the art of electronics more than one return wire may be used to avoid ground loops.

[0070] The picafina's outer surface is made of some material compatible with human tissues, e.g. polyurethane (for the bulk) and titanium (for the measuring metallic tips) in the main embodiment. These materials are only used as examples used in current art picafinas, many other materials being possible, and the particular material being irrelevant for our invention. The body has to be of a material that does not conduct electricity, while the tips or measuring pads are made of a material that is a good electrical conductor, e.g., a metal. The tips are to serve as contact points of electrical currents somewhere in the body, which, for the main embodiment is deep inside the brain.

[0071] The dimensions indicated in FIG. 10 were chosen for simplicity of description, particularly the number of measuring tips, which is chosen low to make the analysis simpler and the features visible in the drawing. In this main embodiment described here there are 192 measuring tips, numbered not sequentially but accordingly to the rings they belong as 110_01_01, 110_01_02, 110_01_03 etc, until 110_01_12, for the 12 most distal tips (i.e., on the most distal ring of tips), then 110_02_01, etc. for the next ring, etc. until the most proximal ring of tips, which is numbered 110_16_01, etc., in FIG. 10. In the main embodiment these tips are made of titanium. These tips are to be the initiation points to electrical contacts with nearby cells—neurons in this case. With the indicated dimensions, typical tip diameter is 0.654 millimeters and edge-to-edge separation is also 0.654 millimeters along the circumference, so center-to-center separation between the tips is 1.309 millimeters along any circumference at a fixed distance from any of the ends (fixed z dimension). On a 5 mm. diameter picafina, there are 12 such tips on a circle, only the 6 on the visible side being seen on FIG. 10, at any particular distance from any of the ends, there existing other 6 tips on the back, invisible side. Along the z coordinate the separation between pads is also 1.309 mm (typical dimension), making 16 such circles populated with 12 tips each, making a total of 192 tips on a z dimension length approximately equal to 20 mm (h_2). These are possible dimensions, in no way to be taken as restricting our invention, as many other values being compatible with our invention, as known to the ones skilled in the art. The number of tips displayed in the drawing was chosen to be only 12 on any circumference so as to make the drawing clearer, a typical picafina having 10 to 100 or more times more measuring tips on any of the rings in h_2 in FIG. 10.

[0072] Referring again to FIG. 10, describing now the inner structure of the picafina 100, also starting from the distal end of it (the concave extremity), the first 2.5 mm of it (h_1, typical dimensions) have no features inside. In the particular preferred embodiment, said distal end is solid and made of the same compatible material as the external surface of the picafina. Moving towards the proximal end of the picafina, at the distance h_1=2.5 mm. from said distal end (see FIG. 10), there is at the surface a first set of electrical contacts or tips, 110_01_yy (yy running from 01 to 12), along an imaginary ring on its outer surface. These electrical tips are connected to electrical circuits inside de picafina, which are described below. FIG. 7a is a conceptual drawing of a cross section of the picafina of our invention, made perpendicular to the long, or z dimension shown in FIG. 10, made at a distance approximately 2.5 millimeters from the distal end, that is, at the plane containing the ring of electrical tips closest to the picafina's distal end. What is shown in FIG. 7a is not a drawing of the transistors and other electronics devices as they are seen in a microscope, but a symbolic representation of the electronics at that position, the actual transistor construction being out of the scope of the invention, not included in the invention, and part of the old art of semiconductor and printed circuit board manufacture. The transistors themselves do not even have to be in a single plane, but are stacked as needed for connections among them. While FIG. 7a depicts a schematic (simplified) view of the electronics circuits that determine our invention, FIG. 7b shows in more detail the electronics for one single electrical tip, one of the 12 repeated circuits around the circle at FIG. 7a. Each tip is connected by a similar electronics circuit to the signal carrying wires, though varying in the address, as each tip has its own dedicated address. These two figures best display the innovation over prior art brought by our invention, as they show the method which allow the use of much larger number of electrical tips than prior art, and the reader is requested to pay special attention to these and its description. FIGS. 7a and 8a only show the general features of the circuits and their interconnections, while the details of the circuits are shown at FIGS. 7b and 8b. Referring to FIGS. 7a and 7b, each of the address decoders 830_xx_yy contains a unique address written in it. Moreover decoders 830 are such that their outputs are high when the address at address bus 200 tip is equal to the particular, unique address written in said particular decoder 830, which is the tip address, and low otherwise. Therefore, when address for tip 110_01_01 is asserted on the address bus 200 tip, that is, when 200 tip has value (0000 0001) the address decoder 830_01_01 recognizes the address and makes its output to go high, while none of the other address decoders recognizes the address as theirs, so all other address decoders keep their outputs low. This in turn causes the electronic switch 810_01_01 to be turned on, connecting tip 110_01_01 to the measurement wire and to the measuring instrument. Writing a different address on address bus 200, for example, (0000 0100 digital=04 hex=04 decimal), causes another address decoder to select another tip for measurement. In the main embodiment, 8 address lines can create 2 power 8=256 different addresses, enough for the 196 tips in it, so 8 address lines are enough.

[0073] It is envisaged that the main embodiment may also have a latch (not shown) for each output of the decoders 830. With such latch it is possible to have more than one tip 110 connected to the measuring wire at the same time, in effect creating an average or integrated measurement among several tips. Among other possibilities is to connect a large number of adjoining tips to create an effective larger area tip, thereby increasing the signal strength.

[0074] FIG. 7b shows the electrical connections between the main conceptual blocks disclosed in the main embodiment of our invention. FIG. 7a shows a cross section of the picafina of our invention taken perpendicular to its longer, or z-dimension, and FIG. 7b shows these connections isolated from the body 100. Is shows the address decoders 830, the electronic switches 810, the measuring tips 110, the wiring for them, the address bus and the power and the measurement wires. The twin electronic switch 810 for selection of the ground or return wire is not shown, for simplicity. Any measuring tip may act as either signal or return/reference tip. Return tips may be omitted, in which case the reference may be taken as the full cell assembly, of animal body.

[0075] FIGS. 9a and 9b shows possible implementations of address decoder 830 with inverters and AND gates. FIG. 9a shows a decoder for addresses 0001B=01D=01H and FIG. 9b shows a decoder for address 1100B=12D=0CH (binary, decimal and hex representations). Each measuring tip has a particular combination of inverters that determines its particular address. These circuits are made using the standard techniques of semiconductor fabrication. This is only an exemplary version, many other possibilities existing for address decoders, which is a mature field in digital electronics, not part of our invention. In the preferred embodiment of our invention said address decoder is also grown on the substrate of each layer that serves a particular set of tips 110_xx_yy at a fixed distance from the ends of the picafina, for example, the 12 tips described above, part of the most distal “ring” of tips.

[0076] Returning to FIG. 7a it shows the electronic circuits existing at that cross section, not necessarily at their exact position, as the positioning of the electronic parts is not part of our invention, but only their function and logical connection. The detailed implementation of the electrical connections are known in the art of electronics. In particular the actual transistors and electrical connecting wires most likely will in practice be not on a single plane but on different layers, according to the established art of transistor and printed circuit board manufacture. Rather, FIGS. 7a and 7b and its details are intended to show the logical connections among the devices, which will be implemented according to the established art of die and printed circuit manufacture, the actual implementation of the circuits being part of the established art. Both transistor and printed circuit boards are mature fields on which our invention makes no improvements. Our invention works with this electronics that are described in this layer or some of its electronics equivalents.

[0077] For the main embodiment described, which has 16 “rings” of tips, each at a different z-coordinate and with 12 tips each, there are 16 group of circuits similar to the circuit described above for the most distal “ring”, except for the addresses, which is unique for each tip.

[0078] Between each plane of electronics there are vertical “wires”, which in this case are made using the established techniques of semiconductor manufacture or of printed board manufacture, or a combination of these, such “wires” connecting all the 8 address lines 200, the “wire” 210 that carries the electrical power to the electronics, the “wire” 211 that connects the selected tip to the external measuring instrument and the “wire” 212 for ground and possibly an extra wire for latching and for separate ground or return (not shown in FIG. 7). Such vertical wires connecting in parallel all 16 planar set of circuits described above continue beyond the most proximal layer of measuring tips 110_16_yy to the proximal end of the picafina, where they end at the connectors for wires 200, 210, etc. shown at FIGS. 10 and 4b.

[0079] Said wires running inside the picafina of our invention are, in the preferred embodiment here described, constructed with some combination of semiconductor manufacture, printed circuit technology and manual soldering. For example, all the address decoders 830 and the switches 810 that serve a particular set of tips at a fixed axial distance from the ends of the picafina (say tips 110_01_01 through 110_01_12) could be made of current technology of semiconductor manufacture, and their connection to each of the tips could be individually made by a technician at fabrication, while some of the vertical connections from layer to layer could be made with vias and the existing technology of printed circuit manufacturing, while others vertical connections with the technology of semiconductor manufacture. But printed circuit technology, or semiconductor manufacture, or manual soldering are not intended to be restrictive for our invention, any other equivalent technology or any combination of them being acceptable.

[0080] From the connectors shown at the proximal end of the picafina at FIGS. 10 and 4b, wires of the necessary length (not shown) connect the proximal end of the picafina to the electrical power supply, the control and measuring instruments. The control and measuring instruments can be as simple as manual switches to set addresses and ordinary voltmeters that need a human to read the value, to sophisticated computer controlled instrumentation (see FIG. 11).

[0081] It is envisaged that a an amplifier may exist between the measuring tip 110 and the switch 810 to amplify the weak signal captured at the measuring tip.

[0082] Operation of Invention—Preferred Embodiment.

[0083] Similarly to the description of the invention we start with a disclosure of the operation written for electrical engineers and in a succinct form, followed by a detailed explanation of the operation.

[0084] Operation of Our Invention—Short, Electrical Engineering Version.

[0085] In a main embodiment, one of a large number of measuring tips is selected for connection to a single measuring wire connecting to the measuring instrument (e.g., a voltmeter), with an address bus. An address bus with n lines can select up to 2 power n individual measuring tips. The researcher or neurosurgeon inserts the picafina described above in the general area where he/she wants to make measurements, then selects which measuring tip to use asserting the appropriate address in the address lines. Once a particular measuring tip is selected, all the measurements indicate the voltage at that particular location. The measuring tip can be changed later, as needed. More than one tip can be selected concurrently making use of latches that keeps a tip selected even after its address is changed, and an extra deselect line is capable of turning off all switches at once.

[0086] Operation of Our Invention—Detailed Version.

[0087] The invention is a method and a means to make a very large number of measuring tips, each usually being of smaller physical size when compared with prior art, to make precisely located electrical measurements on neural and muscle tissues. The measuring tips smaller size and closer proximity to each other, when compared with previous art, is part of our invention. The researcher or the neurologist/neurosurgeon need only to insert the picafina of our invention on the general vicinity of the area of interest, which is in itself an improvement over prior art, which required more precise positioning of the electrode tips than our invention does. Once the picafina is positioned in such a way that the area covered by the electrode tips (h_2 in FIG. 10) is in the general position on which measurements are to be made, the precise measuring point is chosen selecting one out of the many tips covering the target region and more. This is made with the address lines used by address decoder 830. For the main embodiment of our invention, address lines used by address decoder 830 are used to close the connection of one and only one electrode measuring tip to the wire that is connected to the measuring instrument. This is done as follows:

[0088] The address lines used by address decoder 830 are in such a number as to be able to create unique addresses for all the electrode tips on the particular picafina. For the main embodiment here described, with a small number of measuring tips for simplicity, 196 electrode tips, there is a need of 8 wires (making 8 bits), which can make up to 2 power 8=256 different addresses. In the main embodiment, the address is externally chosen with a set of 8 DPDT switches, each switch connected at the proximal end of the picafina to one of the eight address lines used by address decoder 830, with which each of the 8 address lines can be made either high or low as desired, therefore creating each of the 196 necessary addresses. Such a manual selection is only one of the possibilities, it being appreciated by the practitioners of the art that automatic selection can be made, e.g., using a programmable computer or similar means. The addresses are created with the ordinary binary number system, as known to the practitioners of the art of digital electronics. If an address is put on 830 that does not correspond to any actual measuring tip, then no tip is connected and nothing happens. Once a particular address is created with said switches (for example, 0000-1010B=0AH=10D), if said address corresponds to one of the existing addresses of the many address decoders 830, (decoder 830_10_01 for example) the address on the bus will be recognized by its corresponding address decoder 830_10_01, which will respond changing its output from low to high, which in turn will change the electronic switch 810_10_01 that is associated with it to the “on” state, connecting the measuring tip associated with that particular address decoder to the measuring wire. From this time on the measuring instruments will be measuring the voltage at the vicinity of measuring tip which corresponds to address 10D, indicated at FIG. 10.

[0089] The measuring wire is connected at the picafina's proximal extremity to a measuring instrument, which in the main embodiment is a voltmeter with scales capable to measure millivolts and microvolts.

[0090] The selection of measuring tip can be made from a computer program, which typically has a “feeling” similar to the standard graphic interfaces, as, for example, shown in FIG. 11 which, nevertheless, was drawn for the more complex embodiment described below. Such a program may be called a DPU (Doctor's Programming Unit), for example.

[0091] Description and Operation of Alternative Embodiments

[0092] Second Embodiment of Our Invention. Description of the Invention.

[0093] Description of Second Embodiment—Short, Electrical Engineering Version.

[0094] A second embodiment discloses the use of multiple signal wires to carry the signal from the picafina surface to an external measuring instrumentation (e.g., a voltmeter) and a separate second digital addressing system to select which of said wires is connected to the selected measuring tips. The electrical connections for this second embodiment are shown in FIG. 8a and FIG. 8b. Said second digital addressing system is separate from the first digital addressing system only logically, as each is a set of wires running in parallel. Each of the available wires to carry the signal can be connected to any of the available measuring tips, allowing several simultaneous measurements from different measuring tips, as many as there are signal wires. In this embodiment, at the same time that a measuring tip is selected, the output of its address decoder 830 besides closing (turning on) the electronic switch 810 associated with the tip that corresponds to itself, also performs two functions. Firstly it enables a demultiplexer or second address decoder 831, that selects one of the signal carrying wires to connect the selected measuring tip to one of the available signal connecting wires—the signal connecting wire selected by said second address bus (see FIGS. 8a and 8b). Secondly it sets the system to latch the selected switches, so that this particular combination of measuring tip+signal carrying wire will stay connected even after the address bus changes to select another combination. These latches are not shown in the figures as they are internal part of the switches. Also, as is typical with latches, they can be released (going to off state). In this case a common wire carry an unlatch signal to all latches in the picafina of our invention (not shown). It is intended that the number of connecting wires is much smaller than the number of measuring tips. Once the addresses for a particular measuring tip and for a connecting wire are selected, these addresses are stored in local memory (latched), freeing both address buses to assert other addresses. Alternatively address decoder 831 together with a switch can be seen as a demultiplexer.

[0095] Description of Second Embodiment—Detailed Version

[0096] The second embodiment of our invention uses two address buses, 200 for the measuring tips, and another bus (not shown) to select one of a plurality of connecting wires. This alternative embodiment offers the possibility of having several separate wires connecting several different measuring tips to external recorders working in parallel. Any measuring tip can be connected to any of the signal measuring wires. In this embodiment the number of measuring tips is still very large, say a few thousands, with a smaller number of connecting wires, say a dozen to a few hundreds. In this embodiment, concomitantly to selecting a particular measuring tip with decoder 830, say 110_10_01, the user sets another address in another independent address bus (not shown), which is decoded by another address decoder 831 (FIGS. 8a and 8b), which selects a particular connecting wire to carry the signal captured by tip 110_10_01 to the proximal end of the picafina and from there to the voltmeter or other measuring instrument. In this embodiment there is a latch associated with both electronic switches 810 and the implied internal switch in 831 because both the measuring tip and the connecting wire have to stay selected even after the address buses 200, for the electrodes, and another address bus for the different voltages (not shown), have other address values for other combinations.

[0097] Consequently this second embodiment of our invention extends the use of the addressing system to the selection of one connecting signal wire from a plurality of wires available throughout the body of the picafina, each one capable of connecting any of the measuring tips with the proximal end of the picafina of our invention, from which they can be extended by ordinary means to the measuring instrumentation, e.g., voltmeters. FIGS. 8a and 8b shows the electronic connections and parts. Measuring tip 110 is connected via a first digitally controlled switch 810, which turns on/off under the control of a first address decoder 830, to a second digitally controlled switch which is turned on/off by a second digital address decoder 831, to one of the signal connecting wires that runs inside the picafina to the proximal end of said picafina, from which connection is made as required to a reading instrument, as a voltmeter. Once either address bus selects an address for either the measuring tip 110_xx_yy or for the signal wire 211_zz the selection is latched and stay latched until a signal is send to another wire, not shown, which has the appropriate circuitry to unlatch all the latched addresses, which can be used to select new measuring tips and new connecting wires with a new selection cycle. The combination address decoder 831 and a switch can be seen as a demultiplexer.

[0098] Second Embodiment of Our Invention. Operation of the Second Embodiment.

[0099] To operate the second embodiment the user must start resetting all the latches to the off state, which the user does with the latch off signal (not shown). He/she then starts selecting the first address for the measuring tip he/she needs in the same way as is done with the main embodiment, e.g., with individually set switches, or with a decoding pad, or with a microcomputer or any equivalent way as known to the practitioners of the art to assert the required addresses at the appropriate address buses, then, at the same time (concomitantly) the user also selects the address for one of the available connecting wires 211_zz which run inside the length of the picafina of our invention. In the particular electronic design shown for the second embodiment both addresses have to be selected concomitantly because in this second embodiment the address bus that selects a particular surface measuring pad also enables the address decoder that selects which signal carrying wire is chosen, so that the signal connecting wire is connected only to the selected measuring pad, but alternative designs are possible, in which the selection is made not at the same time, still implementing the same principles, this being only one possibility for implementation. Address decoder 830 being selected for that particular measuring pad, the latches are on for its electrical measuring pathway, so the combination will latch and will stay closed after the address bus is changed to select another combination measuring tip+signal measuring wire. With this, the user has completed the connection from the selected measuring tip to a single, identifiable wire at the proximal end of the picafina of our invention. The user selects then a second measuring tip 110 and a second connecting wire 211 in the same manner as the previous one, then a third and so on, until he/she selected all the desired measuring points using one of the available connecting wire for each measuring tip. As described elsewhere, it is also possible to connect said second measuring tip 110 to the same connecting wire 211, or any number of measuring tips, wherein the effect is to create a virtual measuring tip with a larger area, which increases the current or the strength of the signal captured. When all the measuring tip selections are made and the connecting wires 211 have been connected to the external measuring instruments the user is ready to acquire data. Several voltage measurements can be taken in parallel with this second embodiment, for example, to study firing correlation between neurons.

[0100] A Doctor's Programming Unit (DPU) may be used to make these selections, as shown in FIG. 11 for a simplified case of fewer measuring tips and fewer signal carrying wires as a typical picafina is supposed to have.

[0101] Another alternative embodiment is the addition of a buffer amplifier between the measuring tip and the electronic switch 810 (not shown). One of the advantages of such buffer amplifier is to obviate the know problems of building an electronic switch 810 with no voltage drop across itself, which is particularly important when the signals to be measured by measuring tips 110 are very small. Such a first end amplifier could be critical to measure the small voltages propagating along the neurons, captured by measuring tips 110.

[0102] Still another alternative embodiment is to have a summing amplifier (not shown) between the measuring tip 110 and the electronic switch 810. Such summing amplifier should receive at a first input the voltages at the measuring tip 110, and at a second input a fixed DC constant voltage V_bias that may derive from either an external or internal source. In such an embodiment the electronic switch 810 receives its input at a high enough electric potential not to pose constraints on its design due to voltage drop across said switch 810. Still another alternative embodiment is to bias the input of the electronic switch 810 (not shown), which must then be blocked from inserting current on the neurons being measured by an isolation capacitor (not shown) between said DC and the measuring tip 110.

[0103] Still another alternative embodiment of our invention (not shown in figures) is the use of radio signals to create the addresses for the address decoders (and/or the addresses for the signal wires on the first alternative embodiment). In this embodiment there is no physical address wires connecting the distal end of the picafina with the user (researcher or neurologist). Any radio communication link is feasible, over the EM spectrum, including, e.g., microwaves etc., and such action-at-a-distance information is sometimes referred to as telemetry. This invention does not include a new radio communication system, but simply use existing telemetry devices. In this alternative embodiment the connecting wires for the electrode address bus 200 and for the voltage levels (not shown) are substituted by a telemetry unit inside the picafina of our invention, which receives the addresses sent by the user using a transmitting unit. Once received, the addresses are stored in memory physically located at the distal end of the picafina, near the measuring tips, said storing memory taking the place of the connecting wires. Such an alternative embodiment decreases the number of wires connecting the picafina with the outside world, which may be important when taking measurements on small animals, as in a mouse or even on an insect, when it may be advantageous to use smaller wires connecting the animal to the controlling and measuring instruments.

[0104] Still another alternative embodiment of our invention is a battery operated device (not shown in figures) which have the advantage over the main embodiment for chronical implants (long-term implants), which are devices that are expected to stay on for several months or even years. In this case it may be better to have the ability to have a battery operated, self-contained electrode system that is capable to receive orders by telemetry link and also send results out to an external receiver also by telemetry link. This alternative embodiment obviates the need to have the animal continuously attached to a wire, particularly because it is difficult to prevent the animal from scratching the point of penetration of the wire, with subsequent destruction of the connection and perhaps starting an infectious process. In this variation, though the implanted device is no longer physically accessible after the surgery, its electrical properties can be adjusted and changed via radio or magnetic or other type of action-at-a-distance communication. For example, the telemetry link may be an ordinary electromagnetic link between the picafina of our invention and a programming unit that transmits information to the picafina. This telemetry link may work in the same technological principles as a cell phone, or a cordless telephone, or a wireless computer mouse or a wireless computer keyboard, or a remote control used for TV, CD, DVD or similar household devices. Some of these use infra red communication, which has limited range in implanted devices because of infra red radiation absorption in tissues, others use FM or other electromagnetic “radio” waves, which have more transmission through bodies than infra red radiation does, and the ones that use “radio” waves use a variety of frequencies, each one with its own advantages. Depending on the size of the animal and implant depth one or other of these will be more advantageous over the others. The particular type of telemetry, and the electronics to implement it as well, are not described here because telemetry and electronics are old arts. In this alternative implementation after surgical implant and after the necessary period of healing, the electrode tip addresses are selected by transmitting the information by telemetry (radio, etc.) to the implanted unit, which subsequently sends the information out by radio telemetry also.

[0105] Still another alternative embodiment of our invention is to have the output of the address decoder latched, that is, it continues forever in the high state when it is selected until a deselect signal is asserted. Many addresses can be chosen at the same time.

[0106] Conclusion, Ramifications, and Scope of Invention

[0107] Thus the reader will see that the electrode measuring tips of the invention provide a highly reliable device which offers the advantage over prior art of being able to make electrical measurements on more precisely located points on the vicinity of nerves and other cells inside living organisms. The smaller dimensions of the measuring electrodes (tips) of our invention allow for more precise measurements from a single neuron, instead of average measurements from several neurons that happen to be near a larger measuring tips or probes of prior art. At the same time, our invention permits the measurements from several tips in parallel, which tips can be adjoining to each other, making the equivalent of a larger tip of prior art. These options give more flexibility and options to the user of our invention. Also prior art used measuring tips at the end of a dedicated physical support which both forced a larger than necessary physical distance between these measuring points, which in turn caused the absence of measuring points where potentially needed (between two tips), as well as increased trauma to the organism, as each tip was the origin of a penetrating sharp object at the end of which it sat. Moreover, the electrode measuring tips of our invention allows for changing measurement position from points separated by a few micrometers, or the distance between each tip, without moving the supporting structure (the picafina). This possibility of changing the measuring tip to be used while keeping the picafina of our invention in the same place is important, as each repositioning involves trauma to the animal. Moreover, the change from one tip to the other is also important, because the distance between the tips can be made very small, a few micrometers with modern technology of semiconductor and printed circuit board (PCB) manufacture, which is much smaller than the separation between tips in multi tip measuring devices in current use. Therefore the picafina need not be positioned with accuracy with respect to any neuron or other body cell, and the possibility of adjustments of the measuring position switching from one tip to another nearby tip is equivalent to micropositioning the measurement site, or to make small changes on the measurement site.

[0108] The wires at the proximal end of the picafina of our invention do not have to be grouped as indicated in the main embodiment, any other grouping being acceptable, as the grouping does not alter the working of our invention. For example, all the wires could end on a single harness, or each wire could have its own dedicated connector, or any combination of these, because the particular form of connecting the wires are not part of this invention.

[0109] The wires or cables at the proximal end of the picafina of our invention may be duplicated (redundant wires), as shown at FIG. 12, so that the picafina of our invention can still be used if one of the wires happens to break, simply changing to its backup wire or cable.

[0110] The measuring tips can be of any shape different of the circular shape indicated in the main embodiment without altering the scope of the invention. For example, the measuring pads can be square shaped, as indicated in FIG. 2, or they can be elongated, as shown at FIG. 3, or they can be in the shapes shown at FIGS. 5a and 5b. These variations and many others are possible and fit particular applications, none of them expressing any intrinsic variation from our invention.

[0111] The very body of the picafina of our invention can have shapes other than cylindrical. FIGS. 6a and 6b show two such possible variations. Variations on the shape of the picafina of our invention to adapt to specific applications do not constitute an intrinsic variation of our invention and are covered by this patent. It is envisioned that a flat surface may be useful in many cases, due to the layered structure of the brain.

[0112] The distal interior part of the picafina described in the main embodiment is solid and made of the same material as its surface, but this is not necessary, it being possible to have a hollow interior, or an interior made of a different material then the exterior surface, this detail not affecting the working of the invention as it will be seen by the persons familiar with the art.

[0113] The address decoders 830 that turns on/off the switches 810, thereby connecting the measuring tips 110 can be as simple as a digital (or binary) comparator, for example the National Instruments 54AC520 or the Texas Instruments 5962-8681801RA, or some other more complex circuit, or even a especially designed electronic circuit, the particular nature of the address decoder not impacting our invention, but only that it recognizes that the address asserted in the address bus 200 is the same as the address assigned to the contact that it is supposed to turn on/off.

[0114] While our above description contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention, but rather as an exemplification of one preferred embodiment thereof and a few typical variations. Many other variations are possible. For example the cross section of the picafina of our invention can be of many other shape, as elliptical or rectangular, some of which are shown in FIGS. 6a and 6b. Besides elliptical and rectangular, it can be of any irregular shape, or the cross section can even vary along the long dimension of the picafina. The measuring tips do not have to be flush with the picafina's body, but can be either protruding out of it or be recessed onto it. The protruding tip could be made with the nanotechnology. The dimensions suggested for the main embodiment are intended for a picafina designed to make measurements deep in the brain of a human animal; these dimensions are necessarily different when the intended animal is not a Homo, but a smaller mouse or an even much smaller insect, or for measurements at the brain cortex, for example, which is located just below the skull, or for measurements on the spinal cord, or from other neurons or other cells on the heart, intestines, or any other organs or extremities like arms. The measuring tips can be made of metals other than titanium, such as platinum, vanadium, iridium, silver, gold, surgical steel, stainless steel, MP35N, platinum-iridium, amalgams, alloys, and combinations, among others. and the body can be made of other insulators other than silicone, such as polyurethane, polyethylene, polyimide, polyvinylchloride, PTFE, ETFE, ceramics, various biocompatible polymers, or combinations of these, among others.

[0115] The connections inside said picafina are made with any of the technologies developed for printed circuits and/or chip manufacture (integrated circuits or IC). For example, both the subtractive and the additive processes used in printed circuit manufacture can be used to print the connecting power and address lines. The integrated circuits and transistors shown as a block diagram, for example, at FIG. 7 could be made with the ordinary technology used for chip manufacture, as well as some of the wires that interconnect them and/or wires that connect them with the main connecting wires along the picafina. It is also possible to use a combination of these, some connections using the printed circuit technology, other using the smaller IC technology, the particular choice depending on the size and complexity of the particular picafina.

[0116] Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined not by the embodiment(s) illustrated, but by the appended claims, drawings and invention description, and their legal equivalents.

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