Reliability evaluation of an implantable deep brain stimulator

The long-term reliability of an implantable deep brain stimulator is very important. In this paper, the long-term reliability of an implantable deep brain stimulator was evaluated through a series of stress and accelerated life tests on the devices and PCB of the stimulator. The PCB circuit was subjected to temperature shock, vibration test, temperature cycling, burn-in, and accelerated life test. The devices were subjected to temperature shock, temperature cycling and burn-ins. All the samples of deep brain stimulators passed the whole tests. Results of this study confirmed the reliability of the deep brain stimulator has been used in the clinical trial.