IMEC’s design strategy for brain implants paves the way to multi-electrode deep-brain stimulation

Leuven, Belgium – April 21, 2009 – At this week’s Design, Automation & Test
in Europe (DATE) conference, IMEC presents a new design strategy for brain
implants, which it used to create a prototype multi-electrode stimulation &
recording probe for deep-brain stimulation. With this development, IMEC
highlights the opportunities in the healthcare market for design tool
developers.

Brain implants for electrical stimulation of specific brain areas are used
as a last-resort therapy for brain disorders such as Parkinson’s disease,
tremor, or obsessive-compulsive disorder. Today’s deep-brain stimulation
probes use millimeter-size electrodes. These stimulate, in a highly
unfocused way, a large area of the brain and have significant unwanted side
effects.

Wolfgang Eberle, Senior Scientist and project manager at IMEC’s
bioelectronics research group: “To have a more precise stimulation and
recording, we need electrodes that are as small as individual brain cells
(neurons). Such small electrodes can be made with semiconductor process
technology, appropriate design tools, and advanced electronic signal
processing. At DATE, we want to bring this message to the design community,
showing the huge opportunities that the healthcare sector offers.”

IMEC’s design and modeling strategy allows developing advanced brain
implants consisting of multiple electrodes enabling simultaneous
stimulation and recording. This strategy was used to create prototype
probes with 10 micrometer-size electrodes and various electrode topologies.

The design strategy relies on finite-element modeling of the electrical
field distribution around the brain probe. This was done with the
multi-physics simulation software COMSOL 3.4 and 3.5. The COMSOL tools also
enabled investigating the mechanical properties of the probe during
surgical insertion and the effects of temperature. The results indicate
that adapting the penetration depth and field asymmetry allow steering the
electrical field around the probe. This results in high-precision
stimulation. Also key to the design approach is developing a mixed-signal
compensation scheme enabling multi-electrode probes capable of stimulation
as well as recording. This is needed to realize closed-loop systems.

These new design approaches open up possibilities for more effective
stimulation with less side effects, reduced energy consumption due to
focusing the stimulation current on the desired brain target, and
closed-loop control adapting the stimulation based on the recorded effect.

The news release and picture can be downloaded at
http://www2.imec.be/imec_com/imec__08217_s-design-strategy-for-brain-implan
ts-paves-the-way-to-multi-electrode-deep-brain-stimulation.php?year=2009&mo
nth=04

About IMEC
IMEC is a world-leading independent research center in nanoelectronics and
nanotechnology. IMEC vzw is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, has a sister
company in the Netherlands, IMEC-NL, offices in the US, China and Taiwan,
and representatives in Japan. Its staff of more than 1650 people includes
about 550 industrial residents and guest researchers. In 2008, its revenue
(P&L) was estimated to EUR 270 million.
IMEC’s More Moore research aims at semiconductor scaling towards 22nm and
beyond. With its More than Moore research, IMEC looks into technologies for
nomadic embedded systems, wireless autonomous transducer solutions,
biomedical electronics, photovoltaics, organic electronics and GaN power
electronics.
IMEC’s research bridges the gap between fundamental research at
universities and technology development in industry. Its unique balance of
processing and system know-how, intellectual property portfolio,
state-of-the-art infrastructure and its strong network worldwide position
IMEC as a key partner for shaping technologies for future systems.
Further information on IMEC can be found at www.imec.be.

About COMSOL
COMSOL was founded in 1986 in Stockholm, Sweden, and has grown to include
offices in the Benelux countries, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India,
Italy, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and in the US with offices
in Burlington, MA, Los Angeles, CA, and Palo Alto, CA. Additional
information about the company is available at www.comsol.com.

IMEC Contacts:
Katrien Marent, Director of External Communications, T: +32 16 28 18 80,
Mobile: +32 474 30 28 66, katrien.marent {at} imec(.)be

Barbara Kalkis, Maestro Marketing & PR, T: +1 408 996 9975,
kkalkis {at} compuserve(.)com