Design, simulation and implementation of a selective recording system from peripheral nervous system

Abstract

Nerve cuff electrodes provide a safe technique for recording nerve signals. A four-contact cuff electrode was modelled and used to evaluate selective recording from peripheral nerve. Fitzhugh- Nagumo equations were used to model the electromagnetic fields generated by active nerves and electrodes. The selectivity was increased with increasing the distance between active sources and increasing the number of contacts. Programmable System on Chip (PSoC) was used to implement and test proposed structure. Using the proper and low noise preamplifier and filter block we could record noiseless signals from sciatic nerve of a rat. The results of this study showed that Fitzhugh-Nagumo equations could model the nerve excitation accurately and be used in computer simulation for study nervous system. Also indicated that multicontact cuff electrode could be used in recording peripheral nerve signals to discriminate active fascicles in a nerve bundle.