Dong AX, Gwinn RP, Warner NM, Caylor LM, Doherty MJ. Mitigating bit flips or single event upsets in epilepsy neurostimulators.
Epilepsy Behav Case Rep 2016;
5:72-4. [PMID:
27222798 PMCID:
PMC4872716 DOI:
10.1016/j.ebcr.2016.04.002]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2016] [Accepted: 04/10/2016] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Objectives
The objective of this study was to review software errors known as single event upsets (SEUs) or bit flips due to cosmic rays in epilepsy neurostimulators.
Materials and methods
A case report of a single event upset or bit flip is discussed; device manufacturers and publicly available data were queried for both incidence and types of error as well as strategies of software error mitigation.
Results
Neurostimulators, like other implanted devices such as pacemakers, are prone to single event upsets. Strategies for SEU mitigation are reviewed.
Conclusions
Cosmic radiation can threaten RAM and settings of neurostimulators; neuromodulation teams and device designers need to take this threat into account when designing multifunctional neuromodulation systems.
Collapse