US 12,290,371 B2
Intracalvarial BCI systems and methods for their making, implantation and use
Eric Claude Leuthardt, St. Louis, MO (US); Meron Gribetz, New York City, NY (US); and Daniel W. Moran, Ballwin, MO (US)
Assigned to Inner Cosmos Inc., Scotts Valley, CA (US)
Appl. No. 17/428,700
Filed by Inner Cosmos Inc., Scotts Valley, CA (US)
PCT Filed Jan. 23, 2020, PCT No. PCT/IB2020/050527
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Aug. 5, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/161555, PCT Pub. Date Aug. 13, 2020.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/802,245, filed on Feb. 7, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0117540 A1, Apr. 21, 2022
Int. Cl. A61N 1/375 (2006.01); A61B 5/00 (2006.01); A61B 5/293 (2021.01); A61B 5/369 (2021.01); A61N 1/05 (2006.01); A61N 1/36 (2006.01); A61N 1/372 (2006.01)
CPC A61B 5/369 (2021.01) [A61B 5/0006 (2013.01); A61B 5/293 (2021.01); A61B 5/6878 (2013.01); A61N 1/0531 (2013.01); A61N 1/36128 (2013.01); A61N 1/37235 (2013.01); A61N 1/37514 (2017.08)] 54 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An intra-calvarial implant (ICI) for implantation in a calvarial bone of a mammal having an outer table, a cancellous bone, and an inner table, the ICI comprising:
one or more electrodes for sensing electrical signals from a cortex of a mammal and/or for electrically stimulating one or more regions of a brain of the mammal;
one or more auxiliary electrodes operable as one or more current return electrodes or as one or more reference electrodes or as one or more current return electrodes and one or more reference electrodes;
a housing comprising a sealed compartment having a top part, a bottom part and a side wall extending between the top part and the bottom part, and a current augmenting mechanism, the current augmenting mechanism comprises at least one electrically non-conducting member having a first end sealingly attached to or extending away from the bottom part of the sealed compartment and surrounding the one or more electrodes, the current augmenting mechanism has at least one open end disposed at a second end of the non-conducting member, the open end is configured to direct currents from the one or more electrodes towards the inner table, the current augmenting mechanism is configured to augment the current density in the inner table and in cortical target regions underlying the inner table by reducing or preventing lateral current flow through the electrically non-conducting member from the one or more electrodes to the one or more current return electrodes;
an electronic circuitry module (ECM) sealingly disposed within the sealed compartment and operatively electrically connected to the one or more electrodes and to the one or more auxiliary electrodes, the ECM is configured for controlling the operation of the ICI and for wirelessly communicating with an external telemetry device; and
a power harvesting device suitably electrically connected to the ECM of the ICI for providing power thereto.