Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong.
J Neural Eng. 2013 Dec;10(6):066010. doi: 10.1088/1741-2560/10/6/066010. Epub 2013 Oct 25.
Electrical stimulation of nerve tissue and recording of neural activity are the basis of many therapies and neural prostheses. Conventional stimulation systems have a number of practical limitations, especially in experiments involving freely roaming subjects. Our main objective was to develop a modular, versatile and inexpensive multichannel wireless system able to overcome some of these constraints.
We have designed and implemented a new multichannel wireless neural stimulator based on commercial components. The system is small (2 cm × 4 cm × 0.5 cm) and light in weight (9 g) which allows it to be easily carried in a small backpack. To test and validate the performance and reliability of the whole system we conducted several bench tests and in vivo experiments.
The performance and accuracy of the stimulator were comparable to commercial threaded systems. Stimulation sequences can be constructed on-the-fly with 251 selectable current levels (from 0 to 250 µA) with 1 µA step resolution. The pulse widths and intervals can be as long as 65 ms in 2 µs time resolution. The system covers approximately 10 m of transmission range in a regular laboratory environment and 100 m in free space (line of sight). Furthermore it provides great flexibility for experiments since it allows full control of the stimulator and the stimulation parameters in real time. When there is no stimulation, the device automatically goes into low-power sleep mode to preserve battery power.
We introduce the design of a powerful multichannel wireless stimulator assembled from commercial components. Key features of the system are their reliability, robustness and small size. The system has a flexible design that can be modified straightforwardly to tailor it to any specific experimental need. Furthermore it can be effortlessly adapted for use with any kind of multielectrode arrays.
对神经组织进行电刺激和记录神经活动是许多治疗方法和神经假体的基础。传统的刺激系统有许多实际的限制，特别是在涉及自由漫游的实验中。我们的主要目标是开发一种模块化、多功能且价格低廉的多通道无线系统，以克服其中的一些限制。
我们设计并实现了一种新的基于商业组件的多通道无线神经刺激器。该系统体积小（2 cm×4 cm×0.5 cm），重量轻（9 g），便于携带在一个小背包中。为了测试和验证整个系统的性能和可靠性，我们进行了多次台式测试和体内实验。
刺激器的性能和精度与商用螺纹系统相当。可以实时构建刺激序列，具有 251 个可选电流水平（0 到 250 µA），分辨率为 1 µA。脉冲宽度和间隔可以在 65 ms 内以 2 µs 的时间分辨率进行调整。该系统在常规实验室环境中覆盖约 10 m 的传输范围，在自由空间（视线）中覆盖 100 m。此外，它为实验提供了极大的灵活性，因为它允许实时完全控制刺激器和刺激参数。当没有刺激时，设备会自动进入低功耗睡眠模式以节省电池电量。
我们介绍了一种由商业组件组装而成的强大的多通道无线刺激器的设计。该系统的关键特点是其可靠性、坚固性和小巧尺寸。该系统具有灵活的设计，可以直接修改以满足任何特定的实验需求。此外，它可以毫不费力地适应任何类型的多电极阵列。
