Manufacturing, assembling and packaging of miniaturized neural implants

Abstract

Implantable medical devices to interface technical aids with muscles, peripheral nerves, and the brain have been developed for many applications over the last decades. They have been investigated in fundamental neuroscientific studies and some of them have been transferred into clinical practice in diagnosis, therapy and rehabilitation, respectively. Success stories of these implants have been written with help of precision mechanics manufacturing techniques. Latest cutting edge research approaches to restore vision in blind persons and to develop an interface with the human brain as motor control interface, however, need more complex systems, larger scales of integration and higher degrees of miniaturization. Microsystems engineering offers adequate tools, methods, and materials but so far, no MEMS based active medical device has been transferred into clinical practice. Here, different designs, manufacturing technologies and packaging paradigms will be presented and assessed in close relation to the envisioned neuroscientific or medical application.