High-Density, Low-Mating-Force, Magnetically-Coupled, Percutaneous Connector for Implanted Electrode Arrays

As the fields of neuroscience and neural engineering have advanced, chronic implantable microelectrode arrays with 16 to 256 active channels have reached widespread use. However, implanted connector systems for these arrays have not received much attention and are a common source of experiment failure and irregularities. Intermittent connections, unreliable mechanical coupling, contamination, breaks and failures of materials, and high mating forces are common issues that plague most of the connector schemes used today. This paper discusses the design of a novel percutaneous connector for implanted microelectrode arrays with up to 128 individual channels, that addresses many of these issues. The implanted pedestal uses an array of high-density contacts, distributed in a titanium base that can be mounted to bone or other fixation points. The external connector uses an array of spring-loaded pins to make electrical contact and an innovative magnetic coupling mechanism to mate and hold the connector to the pedestal. The implanted pedestal can be produced inexpensively, and the connector can be mated and unmated without applying significant forces to the pedestal