This paper provides a prototype neural prosthesis system dedicated to restoring continence and micturition function for patients with lower urinary tract diseases, such as detrusor hyperreflexia and detrusor-sphincter dyssynergia. This system consists of an ultra low-noise electroneurogram (ENG) signal recording module, a bi-phasic electrical stimulator module and a control unit for closed-loop bladder monitoring and controlling. In order to record extremely weak ENG signal from extradural sacral nerve roots, the system provides a programmable gain from 80 dB to 117 dB. By combining of advantages of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) electronics and custom designed IC, the recording front-end acquires a fairly low input-referred noise (IRN) of 0.69 μVrms under 300 Hz to 3 kHz and high area-efficiency. An on-chip multi-steps single slope analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is used to digitize the ENG signals at sampling rate of 10 kSPS and achieves an effective number of bits (ENOB) of 12.5. A bi-phasic current stimulus generator with wide voltage supply range (±0.9 V to ±12.5 V) and variable output current amplitude (0-500 μA) is introduced to overcome patient-depended impedance between electrode and tissue electrolyte. The total power consumption of the entire system is 5.61 mW. Recording and stimulation function of this system is switched by control unit with time division multiplexing strategy. The functionality of this proposed prototype system has been successfully verified through in-vivo experiments from dogs extradural sacral nerve roots.

Magnetospinography (MSG) is one of the most promising techniques to detect the nerve activity of spinal cords thanks to its noninvasiveness and high spatial/temporal resolutions. Multichannel superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) MSG measurement systems optimized for supine subjects have been developed previously and employed in clinical applications in hospitals. Magnetic source analyses of MSG data based on spatial filter techniques reveal the transition of reconstructed current distributions adjacent to the spinal cord. The propagation of the neural signals was noninvasively visualized. The MSG measurements provide significant diagnostic information such as irregularities in the transitions of the reconstructed current distribution and/or considerable decreases in the current intensity at the lesion. Such functional imaging of the spinal cord in addition to conventional neurologic examinations and morphological imaging will be fairly effective in presurgical lesion localizations of the spinal cord.

This paper reports on the development of an eyeglass-type infrared-controlled telephone communication interface for the disabled. This system is comprised of four major components: A) a headset; B) an infrared transmitting module; C) an infrared receiving/signal-processing module; and D) a main controller, the Intel-8951 microprocessor. The headset with a tongue-touch panel, a wireless earphone, and a wireless microphone. The infrared transmitting module utilizes a tongue touch panel via tongue-touch circuitry which is converted to an infrared beam and a low power laser (<0.1 mW) beam. The infrared receiving/signal-processing module, receives the infrared beam and fine tunes the unstable infrared beam into standard pulses which are used as control signals. The main controller is responsible for detecting the input signals from the infrared receiving/signal-processing module and verifying these signals with the mapping table in its memory. After the signal is verified, it is released to control the keys of the telephone interface. This design concept was mainly based on the idea that the use of an infrared remote module fastened to the eyeglasses could allow the convenient control of the dialing motion on the keys of a telephone's dialing-pad which are all modified with infrared receiving/signal-processing modules. The disabled are competent for some of work, such as a telephone operator. The increase of opportunity to do a job for the disabled would help them live independently.