Mechanical loading of rigid intramuscular implants.
Several groups are developing different versions of a new class of leadless, permanently implanted electronic devices with a size and form factor that allows them to be injected into muscles (BIONs). Their circuitry is protected from body fluids by thin-walled hermetic capsules made from rigid and brittle materials (glass or ceramic) that include feedthroughs to their electrodes. These packages experience repetitive stresses from the very contractions that they excite. We here provide a worst-case analysis of such stresses and methods for testing and validation of devices intended for such usage, along with the failure analysis and remediation strategy for a design that experienced unanticipated failures in vivo.
Loeb
Gerald E
GE
Alfred Mann Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. gloeb@usc.edu
Peck
Raymond A
RA
Singh
Jasspreet
J
Kim
Young-Ho
YH
Deshpande
Sudeep
S
Baker
Lucinda L
LL
Bryant
J Timothy
JT
D019245:Compressive Strength; D003198:Computer Simulation; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004599:Electric Stimulation Therapy / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D004567:Electrodes, Implanted; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000601:surgery*; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D013314:Stress, Mechanical