Multiple electrodes and connecting wires for neural and muscular stimulation and measurement device

Abstract

A device to make multiple, simultaneous measurements of electrical activity on neural, muscular and other animal cells. The invention discloses multiple electrodes at fixed position on a supporting structure and multiple wires to connect the electrodes to one or more measuring devices. The electrodes are preferentially closed spaced, to allow for small spatial discrimination between measurement points. The electrodes and the wires are selected by binary addresses. The device is also capable of injecting electrical stimulation using electrodes not in use for measurements. An injected electrical stimulation at a first location may be created to measure the effect of a well-known event at another location or locations, near or far away.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A device for measuring an electrical signal occurring in body cells of an animal, including a human animal, comprising:
 a picafina having a generally cylindrical device body with a proximal extremity, a distal extremity, an inner lumen and an outer surface;   a plurality of measuring electrode tips on the outer surface of the picafina in fixed relative positions at the distal extremity;   a first plurality of wires running inside the lumen wherein the first plurality of wires have wires comprising at least one element selected from three groups comprising: a first group consisting of electric power wires, a second group consisting of digital binary information wires, and a third group consisting of signal carrying wires;   a plurality of additional wires outside the picafina device body, the additional wires outside the picafina for connecting the first plurality of wires to at least one element of the group: a measuring and/or recording instrument, an electric energy storage, a control electronics;   a plurality of first on/off switches, each of the first on/off switches associated with one of the measuring electrode tips for selecting the associated measuring electrode tip;   a plurality of second on/off switches, each of the second on/off switches associated with one of the wires belonging to the third group of wires running inside the lumen;   wherein the measuring electrode tips are configured to measure the electrical signal values at the body cells next to the respective electrode tips.   
     
     
         2 . The device of  claim 1  further comprising a plurality of electrical amplifiers, each electrical amplifier between each one of the measuring electrode tips and the associated first on/off switch. 
     
     
         3 . The device of  claim 1  further comprising a means for connecting in parallel a subset of the plurality of the measuring electrode tips to one of the wires from the third group of wires, the means capable of latching the on state of each of the first on/off switches, wherein the subset of the plurality of the measuring electrode tips act together as a larger surface measuring electrode tip. 
     
     
         4 . The device of  claim 1  further comprising a latching circuit associated with each of the first on/off switches and with the second on/off switches, configured for keeping the selection made to stay selected for an indefinite amount of time after selection until unlatched by an unlatching circuit. 
     
     
         5 . The device of  claim 4  further comprising a means for un-latching all the first and second on/off switches. 
     
     
         6 . The device of  claim 1  further comprising:
 an addressing means having bits to form a first address to uniquely identify each of the measuring electrode tips and to form a second address to uniquely identify each of the wires from the third group of wires; 
 a plurality of first address decoders, wherein each of the first address decoders is for one of the measuring electrode tips and associated first on/off switch and each of the first address decoders having a unique digital address; 
 a plurality of second address decoders, wherein each of the second address decoders is for one of the wires from the third group of wires and associated second on/off switch and each second address decoder having a unique digital address; 
 wherein the first address asserted on the addressing means at the proximal extremity is compared to the unique digital address of the first address decoder, such that when the unique address of the first address decoder is equal to the first address asserted on the addressing means, the first address decoder causes that the associated first on/off switch to enter the “on” state to select one of the measuring electrode tips, and the second address asserted on the addressing means at the proximal extremity is compared to the unique digital address of the second address decoder, such that when the unique address of the second address decoder is equal to the second address asserted on the addressing means, the second address decoder causes that the associated second on/off switch to enter the “on” state to select one of the wires from the third group of wires, thereby completing the electrical connection between the selected measuring electrode tip and the selected one of the wires from the third group of wires. 
 
     
     
         7 . The device of  claim 6  wherein the addressing means further comprises a plurality of addressing wires composing the second group of the first plurality of wires running parallel to the signal carrying wires inside the lumen. 
     
     
         8 . The device of  claim 6  wherein the addressing means further comprises a wireless telemetry circuit. 
     
     
         9 . The device of  claim 6  further comprising a variable level energy source configured to apply variable levels of electric potentials to selected electrodes according to their digital addresses, wherein the selected electrodes act as source of electrical stimulation to the cells around the selected electrodes. 
     
     
         10 . The device of  claim 1  further comprising a timer electronic circuit that controls the duration of the “on” time of the on/off first switches and the “on” time of the on/off second switches, such that once one of the plurality of switches is turned “on” it is kept in the “on” state for a pre-determined time, after which the timer electronic circuit moves the first switches and the second switches to the “off” state. 
     
     
         11 . The device of  claim 6  further comprising a timer electronic circuit that controls the duration of the “on” time of the on/off first switches and the “on” time of the on/off second switches, such that once one of the plurality of switches is turned “on” it is kept in the “on” state for a pre-determined time, after which the timer electronic circuit moves the first switches and the second switches to the “off” state. 
     
     
         12 . A device for measuring an electrical signal occurring in body cells of an animal, including a human animal, comprising:
 a picafina substantially cylindrical device body having a proximal extremity, a distal extremity, an inner lumen and an outer surface;   a plurality of measuring electrode tips on the outer surface of the picafina in fixed relative positions at the distal extremity, each measuring electrode tips connected to a first controlling electronics which includes at least one element from the group: on/off switches, digital address decoders, digital memory and semiconductor digital electronics;   a box housing an electric energy storage and a second control electronics;   an electrical signal intensity measurement apparatus capable of measuring the electrical signal intensity of the electrical signal occurring in the body cells near the electrode tips, wherein the plurality of measuring electrode tips are connected to the electrical signal intensity measurement apparatus;   a first plurality of wires with proximal extremities and distal extremities, running inside the lumen of the picafina, wherein the first plurality of wires have wires comprising at least one element selected from three groups consisting of: a first group consisting of electric power wires, a second group consisting of digital binary information wires, and a third group consisting of signal carrying wires;   a second plurality of wires outside of the picafina having proximal ends and distal ends, a third plurality of wires outside of the picafina having proximal ends and distal ends, a fourth plurality of wires outside of the picafina having proximal ends and distal ends and a fifth plurality of wires outside of the picafina having proximal ends and distal ends;   wherein the distal ends of the third group of wires from the first plurality of wires are connected to the plurality of measurement electrodes and to the first controlling electronics, and the proximal ends of the third group of wires from the first plurality of wires are connected to the distal ends of a third plurality of wires and the proximal ends of the fifth plurality of wires;   wherein the proximal ends of the third plurality of wires and the proximal ends of the fifth plurality of wires are connected to the measuring/recording apparatus,   wherein the distal ends of the first group of wires part of the first plurality of wires are connected to the first controlling electronics, and the proximal ends of the first group of wires part of the first plurality of wires is connected to the distal ends of the second plurality of wires, and to the distal ends of the fourth plurality of wires,   wherein the distal ends of the second group of wires part of the first plurality of wires are connected to the first controlling electronics, and the proximal ends of the second group of wires part of the first plurality of wires is connected to the distal ends of the second plurality of wires, and to the distal ends of the fourth plurality of wires,   wherein the proximal ends of the second plurality of wires and the proximal ends of the fourth plurality of wires are connected to the electric energy storage unit and to the second controlling electronics,   wherein the second plurality of wires is duplicated as an independent fourth plurality of wires and the third plurality of wires is duplicated as an independent fifth plurality of wires,   whereby the fourth plurality of wires serve as an alternate connecting electric path between the picafina and the electric storage unit and the second controlling electronics, and the fifth plurality of wires serve as an alternate connecting electric path between the picafina and the signal measuring apparatus, whereby if some connecting wire breaks, the duplicate connecting wire is capable of maintaining a full electrical connection between the picafina and the electric storage unit and the second controlling electronics and the signal measuring apparatus.   
     
     
         13 . The picafina device of  claim 12 , where the generally cylindrical picafina device is implanted at a first location in said animal, including human animal. 
     
     
         14 . The device of  claim 13 , where the first location in the animal is a heart. 
     
     
         15 . The device of  claim 13 , where the first location in the animal is a brain. 
     
     
         16 . The device of  claim 12 , where the box housing an electric energy storage and second control electronics is implanted at a second location in said animal, including human animal. 
     
     
         17 . The device of  claim 12 , where the box housing the electric energy storage and the second control electronics is external to the animal, including human animal. 
     
     
         18 . The device of  claim 12 , where the electrical signal intensity measuring apparatus to measure the signal intensity of the electrical signal occurring in the body cells reside in the box housing the electric energy storage and the second control electronics. 
     
     
         19 . The device of  claim 12 , where the electrical signal intensity measuring device to measure the signal intensity of the electrical signal occurring in the body cells resides externally to the animal, including human animal.