A Programmable High-Voltage Compliance Neural Stimulator for Deep Brain Stimulation in Vivo

Abstract

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is one of the most effective therapies for movement and other disorders. The DBS neurosurgical procedure involves the implantation of a DBS device and a battery-operated neurotransmitter, which delivers electrical impulses to treatment targets through implanted electrodes. The DBS modulates the neuronal activities in the brain nucleus for improving physiological responses as long as an electric discharge above the stimulation threshold can be achieved. In an effort to improve the performance of an implanted DBS device, the device size, implementation cost, and power efficiency are among the most important DBS device design aspects. This study aims to present preliminary research results of an efficient stimulator, with emphasis on conversion efficiency. The prototype stimulator features high-voltage compliance, implemented with only a standard semiconductor process, without the use of extra masks in the foundry through our proposed circuit structure. The results of animal experiments, including evaluation of evoked responses induced by thalamic electrical stimuli with our fabricated chip, were shown to demonstrate the proof of concept of our design.

Basal Forebrain Deep Brain Stimulation Impacts the Regulation of Extracellular Vesicle Related Proteins in the Rat Brain

“…DBS is known to have an excitatory or inhibitory effect depending on stimulation frequency stimulation, although results tend to vary as a function of stimulation parameters and brain region under study (67–69), and biphasic cathode-first stimulation tends to be more effective in eliciting functional responses (70–72). In the present study, we tested different stimulation parameter combinations and selected biphasic pulse trains with 20 Hz frequency, ±8 V amplitude, 100μs pulse duration, 500 ms pulse train duration and 10s pulse trains intervals.…”

Experimental Validation of a High-Voltage Compliant Neural Stimulator implemented in a Standard 1.8V/3.3V CMOS Process

“…Instead of using an HV CMOS node, the circuit is implemented in a standard 1.8V/3.3V 0.18 µm CMOS process to allow for a single-chip integration of a neuromodulator, along with a neural recorder already designed in this technology [22]. Previous contributions have addressed the design of a HV neural stimulator in a LV CMOS process [8], [9], [23], [24]. However, these solutions present some drawbacks such as limited power supply range and moderate current mismatch [24], low efficiency [8], lack of control in the stimulation charge [23], and fixed power supply [9].…”

“…Previous contributions have addressed the design of a HV neural stimulator in a LV CMOS process [8], [9], [23], [24]. However, these solutions present some drawbacks such as limited power supply range and moderate current mismatch [24], low efficiency [8], lack of control in the stimulation charge [23], and fixed power supply [9].…”

Modular Current Stimulation System for Pre-clinical Studies

“…Cost, proprietary firmware, dependence on electrophysiological recording setups, and companies' policies can be prohibitive for customization and improvement research. Consequently, there are various custom-designed electrical stimulation systems which are tailored to the requirements of targets such as cardiac tissue (Tandon et al, 2011), cell cultures (Yuan and Silberstein, 2016), brain slices (Li et al, 2015), deep brain areas (Gong et al, 2015), and muscles (Wang et al, 2015;Stewart et al, 2016) in closed-loop and other electrophysiological applications (Sanders and Kepecs, 2014). In this paper, we introduce a low cost (see Appendix A for details) modular electrical current stimulation system that can be used in all of the above-mentioned applications.…”