Liu Xinyu, Su Zhenling, Gao Qingran, Ping Yanna, Xie Hang, Yang Yang, Wang Dongyun
School of Intelligent Manufacturing, Huanghuai University, Zhumadian 463000, People's Republic of China.
School of Control Science and Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, People's Republic of China.
R Soc Open Sci. 2023 Mar 1;10(3):221116. doi: 10.1098/rsos.221116. eCollection 2023 Mar.
An electrical stimulator transmitting information into selected neural circuits is a promising approach for neural prostheses or animal robots. However, traditional stimulators are based on rigid printed circuit board (PCB) technology; technological limitations hindered the development of stimulators, especially for experiments involving free-moving subjects. Here we described a small (1.6 × 1.8 × 1.6 cm), lightweight (4 g, including a 100 mA h lithium battery) and multi-channel (eight unipolar or four bipolar biphasic channels) cubic wireless electrical stimulator exploiting flexible PCB technology. In comparison with the traditional stimulator, an appliance of both flexible PCB and cube structure makes it smaller and lighter, and enhances its stability. Stimulation sequences can be constructed with 100 selectable current levels, 40 selectable frequency levels and 20 selectable pulse-width-ratio levels. Moreover, the distance of wireless communication can reach approximately 150 m. Both and results have demonstrated functionality of the stimulator. The feasibility of remote pigeon's navigation using the proposed stimulator was successfully verified.
将信息传输到选定神经回路的电刺激器是神经假体或动物机器人的一种很有前景的方法。然而，传统刺激器基于刚性印刷电路板（PCB）技术；技术限制阻碍了刺激器的发展，特别是对于涉及自由活动受试者的实验。在此，我们描述了一种利用柔性PCB技术的小型（1.6×1.8×1.6厘米）、轻质（4克，包括一个100毫安时锂电池）且多通道（八个单极或四个双极双相通道）的立方体形无线电刺激器。与传统刺激器相比，柔性PCB和立方体结构的应用使其更小、更轻，并增强了其稳定性。刺激序列可由100个可选电流水平、40个可选频率水平和20个可选脉宽比水平构成。此外，无线通信距离可达约150米。 和 结果均证明了该刺激器的功能。使用所提出的刺激器对鸽子进行远程导航的可行性已成功得到验证。
