Preliminary study of the thermal impact of a microelectrode array implanted in the brain.
One requirement of a chronically implantable, wireless neural interface device is the integration of electronic circuitry with the microelectrode array. Since the electronic IC dissipates a certain amount of power, it will affect the temperature in the tissues surrounding the implant site. In this paper, the thermal influence of an integrated, 3-dimensional Utah electrode array, to be implanted in the brain was investigated with simulations using the finite element method (FEM). A temperature increase in the brain tissue was predicted using preliminary simulations with simplified models. The model and method used in the simulations were verified by simple in vitro experiments.
Kim
Sohee
S
Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Sci., Utah Univ., Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA.
Normann
Richard A
RA
Harrison
Reid
R
Solzbacher
Florian
F
D000818:Animals; D001698:Biomedical Engineering; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004567:Electrodes, Implanted / Q000009:adverse effects; D020342:Finite Element Analysis; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008328:Man-Machine Systems; D008839:Microelectrodes / Q000009:adverse effects; D008959:Models, Neurological; D013814:Thermal Conductivity