Effects Of Depolarizing Prepulses With Different Parameters On The Selective Stimulation Of Myelinated Fibers And Suggestion Of A New Prepulse Waveform With Superior Performance Based On Simulation Of

In recent years, various methods have been suggested to improve selectivity in electrical stimulation of neural fibers or cells. One of these methods is the use of depolarizing under-threshold prepulse to selectively stimulate fibers far from the electrode, without excitation of nearer fibers. In this paper, by implementing a nonlinear model of neural fiber and simulating electrical stimulation of the model, the effect of changes in various parameters of rectangular and stepwise prepulses on the range of applicability of this technique in selective stimulation of fibers in different distances from the electrode and with different diameters has been studied. This study has led to suggest a new waveform for the prepulse; ramp prepulse. The applicability of this prepulse has been studied also. The superiority of this prepulse in comparison with previous suggested ones has been shown. Using this prepulse, it is possible to stimulate selectively fibers in broader range of distances and diameters. Therefore in stimulating neural fibers in spinal cord or peripheral fibers or even neural fibers of special senses, the use of this prepulse can improve distinguishability of fibers in their stimulation.