Chronic neuropathic pain management persists as one of the most significant medical challenges faced within the military. Current approaches to management of chronic pain, especially the use of opiates, are fraught with drawbacks and risks to military patients and cannot be deployed easily in the military theatre; therefore, new technologies that simplify treatment protocols and improve outcomes would be highly advantageous. Electrical stimulation of peripheral nerves can yield therapeutic benefit if applied properly; however, state-of-the-art devices are suboptimal. We propose herein a suite of implantable, tunable, and fully bioresorbable electronic devices for transient, peripheral nerve stimulation for the management of chronic pain. The devices are made entirely of materials of predictable and controllable degradation that circumvent the technical limitations of state-of-the-art devices by enabling device biodegradation after the completion of treatment and eliminating the need for repeated surgeries. The output of the proposed work will be experimental demonstration of electronic device function and transience (breadboard-level validation). Specifically, proof-of-concept of a transient electronic device comprising new (or newly applied) biodegradable materials will be demonstrated. At the end of the Phase I period a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4 will be achieved for the described transient electronic system.
Keywords: Biodegradable, Bioresorbable, Biomedical Device, Implantable Device, Physically Transient Electronics, Electrical Stimulation, Peripheral Nerve Stimulation, Chronic Pain Manag
