Percutaneous Connector for Large Animal, in vivo Studies, with Open-Source Designs

During the development of novel active implantable medical devices, it is advantageous to avoid the complexities of a transcutaneous link, and instead employ a robust percutaneous connection. This is especially significant in chronic animal studies, where the unpredictable behaviors of awake animals must be considered. Here, we describe a magnetically coupled, bone-anchored percutaneous connector system, which provides a secure, reliable, and biocompatible path through which robust connections to external electronics can control and power an implanted device. This component has been successfully utilized in a chronic ovine implantation study (N=2), shown to be well-tolerated, stable, and safe. The design is open source, to benefit the development of active implantable medical devices in the scientific community.