Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) devices - 'brain pacemakers'- have emerged as a revolutionary new approach to the treatment of neurological disorders. DBS therapy uses controllable electrical stimulation delivered to specific deep brain structures through an implantable lead having multiple electrode contacts. DBS is currently the treatment of choice for late-stage Parkinson's Disease and is approved for essential tremor, dystonia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. It is under investigation for depression, chronic vegetative state, obesity, and dementia. There is a clinical need-and significant commercial opportunity-for innovative DBS leads and next-generation DBS systems that provide enhanced targeting, stimulation selectivity and tuning, and MR- safety. NeuroNexus has previously developed and demonstrated feasibility of an innovative MR-safe DBS lead (the Deep Brain Stimulation Array, or DBSA) for precise, selective, and tunable therapeutic electrical stimulation of deep brain targets. The proposed Phase II SBIR project is directed at further development of the DBSA to a fully validated, clinical-grade DBS lead that, at the end of this project, will be positioned for clinical evaluation and then commercialization. This project will be directed by NeuroNexus with pre-clinical testing conducted at MPI Research, Inc. and the University of Michigan. The project structure follows a standard product development process for clinical products to comply with regulatory requirements for design controls and testing. The explicit goal of this project is to complete all development, verification, and validation stages that are required to prepare an IDE submission to gain FDA permission to commence the initial clinical trial for the DBSA. The technical innovation of the project centers on the use of advanced microfabricated electrode technology to create an advanced clinical DBS lead that has increased capabilities for delivering therapeutic stimulation patterns to deep brain targets in a safe and efficacious manner. This project will result in an innovative, clinical-grade DBS lead that will be positioned for commercialization as part of a next-generation DBS system, as well as an innovative research product for neuroscience research. In so doing, this project will increase the impact of leading-edge neurotechnology on improving and advancing treatments of significant neurological disorders in the US and global markets.

Public Health Relevance

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) devices - 'brain pacemakers'- have recently emerged as an exciting novel neurotechnology for treating severe movement disorders, such as Parkinson's disease and Essential Tremor. This project will develop a 2nd-generation DBS electrode system that will provide significant performance improvements over the current clinically approved DBS electrode system. There is expected to be a significant societal benefit of this project through improved care and quality of life for patients receiving DBS therapies.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Type
Small Business Innovation Research Grants (SBIR) - Phase II (R44)
Project #
5R44NS060269-03
Application #
8284317
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-ETTN-K (10))
Program Officer
Ludwig, Kip A
Project Start
2007-08-01
Project End
2014-06-30
Budget Start
2012-07-01
Budget End
2013-06-30
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2012
Total Cost
$1,198,559
Indirect Cost
Name
Neuronexus Technologies
Department
Type
DUNS #
155819035
City
Ann Arbor
State
MI
Country
United States
Zip Code
48108
Zhang, Simeng; Connolly, Allison T; Madden, Lauren R et al. (2018) High-resolution local field potentials measured with deep brain stimulation arrays. J Neural Eng 15:046019
Connolly, Allison T; Vetter, Rio J; Hetke, Jamille F et al. (2016) A Novel Lead Design for Modulation and Sensing of Deep Brain Structures. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng 63:148-57