NSF Convergence Accelerator Track M: Distributed Flexible Strain Sensors to Enable Proprioceptive Cochlear Implant Electrodes

NSF 融合加速器轨道 M：分布式柔性应变传感器支持本体感受耳蜗植入电极

• 批准号: 2344394
• 负责人: Maysamreza Chamanzar
• 金额: $ 64.98万
• 依托单位: Carnegie-Mellon University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-02-15 至 2025-01-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2344394&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; Convergence; Accelerator; Track; Distributed

Modern minimally-invasive surgical techniques employ flexible and continuously deformable catheters, endoscopes, and electrodes to navigate the complex windings of human anatomy. However, these devices currently lack sensory feedback and can carry a significant risk of complications due to inadvertent surgical trauma. This convergence research project will combine multidisciplinary expertise to enable thin deformable medical instruments, including electrodes and catheters, which will detect their own deformation and synthesize clinically-meaningful interpretations of the data via a bio-inspired approach. This project narrows its focus to a single application: cochlear implants (CIs) to address hearing loss (HL), a widespread problem in our aging society, which is also a leading cause of dementia and depression. This research aims to improve outcomes and safety of CI surgery, help relieve the burden and costs of HL to patients, and advance the health and welfare of the American public. The systems and methods developed in this research can be applied to additional surgical procedures in the future to enable a positive impact for an even larger portion of the American public. The culmination of this research will be to realize a flexible thin-film distributed strain sensor array with accompanying machine learning models to extract clinically-meaningful data when paired with a CI electrode. The project follows a convergence research approach to incorporate multiple viewpoints and disciplines, considering the needs in the surgical field and the opportunities in engineering and design. Furthermore, the sensor system is designed to be seamlessly integrated into CIs without adding any extra bulk or stiffness to the implant, thus making the system interoperable with the traditional implants and techniques that surgeons have been using for years.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

现代微创手术技术采用灵活且可连续变形的导管、内窥镜和电极来导航人体解剖结构的复杂线圈。然而，这些设备目前缺乏感觉反馈，并且可能因无意的手术创伤而带来显着的并发症风险。该融合研究项目将结合多学科专业知识，使薄型可变形医疗器械（包括电极和导管）成为可能，这些器械将检测自身的变形并通过仿生方法综合对数据有临床意义的解释。该项目将重点缩小到单一应用：人工耳蜗 (CI) 来解决听力损失 (HL) 问题，听力损失是老龄化社会中的一个普遍问题，也是痴呆症和抑郁症的主要原因。这项研究旨在改善 CI 手术的结果和安全性，帮助减轻 HL 患者的负担和费用，并促进美国公众的健康和福利。这项研究中开发的系统和方法可以应用于未来的其他外科手术，从而为更多的美国公众带来积极影响。这项研究的最终成果将是实现一种柔性薄膜分布式应变传感器阵列，并附带机器学习模型，以便在与 CI 电极配对时提取有临床意义的数据。该项目遵循融合多种观点和学科的融合研究方法，考虑到外科领域的需求以及工程和设计的机会。此外，传感器系统的设计目的是无缝集成到 CI 中，而不会给植入物增加任何额外的体积或硬度，从而使系统能够与外科医生多年来使用的传统植入物和技术互操作。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命和通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，该项目被认为值得支持。