Microelectronics Seminar, UMCP  09/03/02 5pm Rm AVW 2328 

	   Electrical Stimulation: An Overview

       Dr. Gideon Kantor
	    Adjunct Associate Professor
	    Biomedical Engineering Department
            Catholic University of America 
       

       Because of the rapidly increasing use of electrical stimulation in the 
 treatment of patients, it is purposeful to present an overview of 
 transcutaneous and invasive therapeutic procedures. As to  transcutaneous 
 stimulation, critical parameters for safe and effective device performance, 
 such as  excitation sources and phase charge of various waveforms, are 
 discussed within the framework of clinical studies.  Clinical results 
 showing a difference in response due to gender difference are also given. The 
 performance of the only FDA approved functional electrical stimulator (FES) 
 for paraplegic patients is reviewed.  Implanted FES devices for limbs are 
 considered.  A short videotape of corrosion of lead wires of a leg implanted 
 FES is shown, illustratin a catastrophic malfuncion due to a chemical 
 reaction between metal and tissue. The design of a BION, a minituarized 
 stimulator, implanted by a hyperthermic needle, is introduced. The use of 
 recently developed implanted electrical stimulation devices is discussed for 
 heart and stroke patients as well as for epileptic and Parkinson disease 
 (PD) patients. For these PD patients, a deep brain stimulator (DPS)
 was recently developed which will be discussed in some detail in terms of its 
 effectiveness.  Finally the future of electrial stimulation is discussed 
 with emphasis of the potential use of BION's in the treatment of patients 
 requiring invasive treatments
  
                    Brief Curriculum Vitae
  Dr. Kantor has all his degrees in electrical engineering with his Ph.D. 
 from Cornell University. Earlier in his career he was involved in radiowave 
 propagation and associated radar studies. For more than 20 years until he 
 retired in 1995, his  responbilities at FDA included laboratory performance 
 evaluation of medical devices. Initially he participated in research studies 
 of  hyperthermia treatment of cancer by electromagnetically  induced 
 heating. 
  Dr. Kantor was the Prinicpal Investigator of a NIH funded interagency 
 agreement in support of developing a quality assurance program for 
 hyperthemia devices at various hospitals throughout the the United States. 
 Later on  he got involved in clinical studies of electrical stimulators to 
 determine their critical performance parameters related to their safety and 
 effectiveness. Furthermore he got involved in a laboratory performance 
 evaluation of implanted defibrillators.  Many publications resulted from his 
 various studies. Presently Dr. Kantor is Adjunct Asssociate Professor in 
 the Biomedical Engineering Department of Catholic University where
 his teaching includes a course in neural stimulation in  rehabilitation. 
 He is a Non-affiliate Member of the FDA/OST Institutional Animal Care and Use 
 Committee and a Member of the Advsiory Committee of a Harvard/MIT study on  
 nonlinear biosignals. Dr Kantor is a Fellow of the IEEE and a Fellow of 
 AIMBE.