title: A voltage-controlled current source with regulated electrode bias-voltage for safe neural stimulation.
abstract: A current source for neural stimulation is presented which converts arbitrary voltage signals to current-controlled signals while regulating the offset-voltage across the stimulation electrodes in order to keep the electrodes in an electrochemical state that allows for injecting a maximum charge. The offset-voltage can either be set to 0V or to a bias-voltage, e.g. of a few 100mV, as it can be advantageous for fully exploiting the charge injection capacity of iridium oxide electrodes.
authors.affiliation: University of Freiburg, Department of Microsystems Engineering-IMTEK, Laboratory for Biomedical Microtechnology, Georges-Koehler-Allee 102, 79110 Freiburg, Germany. schuettler@imtek.de
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schuettler
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Franke
authors.forename: Thilo Bernhard
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Krueger
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stieglitz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017097:Electric Impedance; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004566:Electrodes; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects*