A neurostimulator design for long-term animal experiments

Abstract

This article reports on a neural prosthesis stimulation system for long-term use in animal electrical stimulation experiments. The presented system consists of an implantable stimulator which provides continuous electrical stimulation, and an external component which provides preset stimulation parameters and power to the implanted stimulator via a paired RF (radio frequency) coil. A rechargeable internal battery and a parameter memory component were introduced to the implanted neural stimulator. As a result, the external component was not necessary during the stimulation cycles. The implantable stimulator was implemented with IC chips and the electronics, except for the stimulation electrod..