Medical Engineering & Neuroprosthetics

Biomedical Engineering & Neuroprosthetics

Technology

• customer-specific design, manufacturing and characterization of flexible, implantable polyimide microelectrodes in a wide range of construction forms (e.g. cuff, shaft, sieve, thread, array) and application (e.g. peripheral nerve, ECoG, retina, vestibularis, musculature)
  
• coating of the electrode surface to reduce impedance and increase the reversible charge injection capacity
  
• evaluation of the long-term reliability of implants (encapsulation materials, electrode layers and supply lines)
  
• hybrid assembly and encapsulation of biomedical microimplants
  
• mask design for 2D and 3D microelectrodes
  
• manufacturing of microimplants with integrated electronics
  
• development of dry surface electrodes including material tests and investigations of the transmission behaviour
  
• design and manufacturing of recording and stimulation circuits
  
• encapsulation of random structures and geometries with parylene
  
• rapid prototyping (3D printer, 3D scanner)
  
• development and manufacturing of autonomous, distributed sensors and actuators

Methodology

• development of customer-specific measurement stations for the verification of the long-term stability of implantable structures
  
• eye-tracking for usability tests and reading behaviour (high-speed and helmet-based system)
  
• registration and analysis of eye movements, vision path and fixation duration for different applications (e.g. while driving vehicles, advertising, design etc.)
  
• development of methods and equipment for clinical neurophysiology and psychology including new methods of signal analysis such as online beat-to-beat determination of the pulse transit time, heart rate variability etc.
  
• system design of neuroprostheses
  
• thermography in the case of technical and biological issues
  
• vigilance investigations and registration of emotions in the drive simulator
  
• examination of implant materials under physiological conditions and accelerated aging
  
• development of stimulation patterns, recording systems, material tests
  
• characterization of microelectrodes, material properties of surface electrodes, long-term behaviour of surface electrodes

Consulting

• consulting on biocompatible coating and encapsulation materials (polyimide, parylene, silicone) and organic electrode material
• technical assistance for electrophysiological measurements in vitro, in vivo and human
• investigations on functional electrostimulation and neuromodulation at peripheral nerves
• implant technology and elaboration of implantation tools for microimplants
• risk management, quality assurance and verification of the biocompatibility and long-term stability
• preparation and monitoring of clinical studies
  

Health Information Systems

• semantic integration of heterogeneous biomedical data sources
• long-term archiving solutions for digital medicine
• semantic search engines in medicine
• biomedical big data applications
• clinical expert systems, decision-supporting systems, multivariant data analysis and biostatistics
• telemedicine platforms for underserved, rural regions and epidemiology
• information systems for biobanks and their networking
• integrated information systems for clinical and epidemiological studies
• disease management systems for domestic and mobile healthcare provision for risk patients, elderly and disabled persons
• health prevention and rehabilitation systems
• smart, networked medical devices and intelligent environments
• medical communication standards (HL7, POCT1A, ICD10, XML, CDISK, etc.)
• near field location and localization systems, asset tracking and management
• biomedical computer vision solutions