A reconnectable multiway implantable connector

A well-tried plug-and-socket connector system designed for connecting multichannel implanted cables was adapted so as to allow disconnection and reconnection during surgery. Five different sealing techniques were tested in vitro, and it was found that only one of them had the required qualities of high leakage path impedance (taken as more than one megaohm for the worst sample) after three months of saline soak, together with demountability under surgical conditions. The system has subsequently been successfully implemented in a patient in whom reconnection was required two years after implantation.