Patent ID: 9179850
Filing Date: 2015-11-10
Classification: A61B,A61F,A61N

Abstract:
1. A method for providing an interface through the skull to the brain of a human subject, comprising: providing a transcranial channel having a length sufficient to traverse at least a portion of the thickness of the skull, a proximal end intended to be oriented towards the outer surface of the skull and a distal end intended to be oriented towards the inner surface of the skull, wherein the transcranial channel is configured to receive an ion-permeable substance for ionically conducting electrical current through the transcranial channel; providing a transparenchymal channel having a distal end configured to be positioned in brain parenchyma or into a sulcus of the brain, wherein the transparenchymal channel is configured to receive an ion-permeable substance for ionically conducting electrical current through the transparenchymal channel; forming an aperture in the skull beneath the scalp, that approximates the outer dimensions of the transcranial channel; implanting the transparenchymal channel to place the distal end in brain parenchyma or into a sulcus of the brain; inserting the transcranial channel into the aperture; covering the proximal end of the transcranial channel with the scalp; and providing equipment at the exterior of the scalp, in the vicinity of the proximal end of the transcranial channel for facilitating one of wireless delivery of electrical current into and through the scalp, through the transcranial channel, and through the transparenchymal channel to a target area of the brain, or acquisition of a signal corresponding to at least one parameter sensed from the target area of the brain, the signal acquired by electrical conduction through the transparenchymal channel, through the transcranial channel, and through the scalp.