Medical engineering firm exhibits electrode technology at Compamed

CorTec exhibited its AirRay electrode technology as part of its exhibit at this year’s Compamed in Dusseldorf.

The company, which specialises in creating individualised components for recording and stimulation in the central and peripheral nervous system, is aiming to become a leading partner in the development of neurotherapies.

By using ultra-short-pulse laser micromachining the AirRay electrode technology enables a high reproducibility at very small feature sizes of 25 μm and high integration densities of electrical contacts. The AirRay electrode can be designed with variations in thickness, contact size, contact spacing, contact shape and overall electrode size.

The electrodes provide electrochemical properties, with Platinum-Iridium or MP35N used as electrode materials, optionally with high performance coatings for enhanced charge transfer to biological tissue. By varying the thickness of silicone rubber or Parylene-C reinforcement layers the mechanical properties can be adjusted to individual requirements: Electrodes can, thus, be very soft or hard enough to be pushed under the skin or into fascicular tissue.

Different modifications of the electrode are increasing the areas of application it can be used for. Three-dimensional designs of grid and cuff electrodes that wrap around peripheral nerves open up additional use cases. Further adaptions cover the integration of microfluidic channels for drug delivery into electrode arrays. It is possible to fold planar AirRay electrodes or to establish combinations with other technologies.

Thanks to its flexibility in design the AirRay electrode technology is an essential part of the big picture to communicate with the human nervous system and to connect it with artificial intelligence.

The AirRay electrode technology like the hermetic ceramic encapsulation technology are part of CorTec Brain Interchange, a new technology platform for innovative neurotherapies with applications like epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease and also in the field of bioelectronic medicine.