Flexible wireless implant offers hope for chronic pain patients

Chronic pain is a weakening condition that seriously affects the quality of life, which often leads to dependence on opioid medications with their serious side effects and addiction risks. According to the US Pain Foundation, 51.6 million Americans live with chronic pain. For more than 17 million patients, their chronic pain is high impact, which often limits their life or work activities.

Current implantable electric stimulators offer an alternative to stimulating spinal cord to block pain signals to reach the brain. But these devices come with inconveniences as high cost, invasive surgery and the need for frequent batteries replacements. Now, the Zhou laboratory researchers in the Department of Biomedical Engineering Alfred E. Mann of USC Viterbi, have developed a revolutionary solution: a induced wireless stimulator induced by flexible ultrasound (UIWI) insured behind the back and designed for a personalized and personalized self -adaptive chronic pain management.

This innovative device, detailed in the electronics of nature, represents a significant leap in pain therapy. While current spinal cord stimulators can be difficult to handle and are connected to batteries, the new device is designed to double and turn with movement and is fed by a portable ultrasound transmitter without the need for a battery. It also takes advantage of automatic learning algorithms to customize the treatment for each patient. The work was directed by Zohrab A. Kaprielian Fellow in Engineering Qifa Zhou, who is also an ophthalmology professor at the Keck School of Medicine of the USC.

Woster of pain at request: how the implantable stimulator works

In the heart of this innovation is its wireless food source, eliminating the need for bulky batteries and complex wiring interfaces that often require repeated surgeries. The UIWI stimulator receives its energy from an external portable ultrasound transmitter (WUT). Ultrasound offers a safe and effective non -invasive method for the penetration of deep tissues. The device converts mechanical waves into electrical signals through a phenomenon called piezoelectric effect. The UIWI stimulator nucleus is a miniaturized piezoelectric element made of lead -cliff titanate (PZT), a highly efficient material to convert incoming ultrasound energy into the electrical power necessary for stimulation.

What really distinguishes this device is its wireless, intelligent and self -adaptive capacity for pain management. We believe that it offers great potential to replace pharmacological schemes and conventional electrical stimulation approaches, aligning with the clinical needs of pain mitigation. “

Qifa Zhou, Professor of Ophthalmology, Keck School of Medicine of USC

PhD. The candidate in the Zhou laboratory and the main author Yushun (Sean) Zeng said that the wireless smart miniaturized stimulator had the ability to produce sufficient intensity of electrical stimulation by using ultrasound energy, which resulted in a more personalized, directed and localized treatment.

“This type of energy conversion is critical for deep stimulation, since ultrasound is a non -invasive and highly penetrating energy in clinical and medical areas,” Zeng said. “By taking advantage of wireless ultrasonic energy transfer and the closed circuit feedback system, this UIWI stimulator eliminates the need for voluminous implanted batteries and allows real and adjustable pain modulation in real time.”

“From a clinical point of view, the incorporation of pain evaluation based on deep learning allows dynamic interpretation and response to fluctuating pain states, which is essential to accommodate the specific variability of the patient.” Zhou Lab Ph.D. The candidate Chen Gong, also the main author in the newspaper.

The device works by:

Pain detection: The system continuously monitors brain recordings, specifically the electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, which reflect the pain levels of a patient. Take advantage of AI to evaluate pain levels: a sophisticated automatic learning model, based on a neuronal network called Resnet-18, analyzes these brain signals and classifies pain into three different levels: slight pain, moderate pain and extreme pain. This AI model has a general accuracy of 94.8% in the distinction between these pain states. The adaptation treatment as necessary: ​​once a pain level is identified, the portable ultrasound transmitter automatically adjusts the acoustic energy it transmits. The UIWI stimulator can detect the propagated energy and turn it into electrical intensity, stimulating the spinal cord. This creates a closed circuit system that provides realized pain in real time.

The UIWI stimulator itself is flexible, flexible and twisted, allowing optimal placement in the spinal cord. The electrical stimulation that provides the works of the spinal cord recovering the signals that transmit and inhibit pain, effectively suppressing the sensation of pain.

Success demonstrated in the laboratory

The Zhou Lab team tested the UIWI stimulator in rodent models, with results that demonstrate its effectiveness for pain management.

The researchers successfully relieved chronic neuropathic pain caused by both mechanical stimuli (such as a pin puncture) and acute thermal stimuli (infrared heat).

Laboratory tests showed that UIWI stimulator treatment led to significant reductions in pain indicators. In an experiment to assess whether an animal associates an environment with pain relief, rodents showed a clear preference for the camera where the pain management system was activated, further confirming the effectiveness of the device.

The future of personalized pain relief

The successful development and UIWI stimulator tests mark a fundamental moment in the search for advanced pain management. The flexible implant design and its integration with sophisticated algorithms offer a dynamic and personalized treatment approach that can adapt to the fluctuating and highly individual nature of chronic pain.

Looking towards the future, Zhou and his collaborators expect even more advanced applications of the device. Zhou said future designs could further miniaturize components, allowing the implementation of less invasive devices, for example, with a syringe. The portable ultrasound transmitter could also evolve towards a miniaturized device without ties or even a portable ultrasound matrix patch, potentially combining image capabilities with the delivery of energy for real -time monitoring and specific stimulation. Future iterations could also be controlled by smartphone software, offering personalized personalized pain even more solid.

Zhou said the objective of the device was to transform chronic pain management, going beyond the limitations of current solutions to offer a truly personalized, intelligent and effective path to pain relief.

“Our findings highlight the potential of the implantable ultrasonic electronics in the management of chronic clinical and translational pain,” Zeng said.