An integrated multichannel waveform generator for large-scale spatio-temporal stimulation of neural tissue

Abstract

We present an ASIC designed for electrical stimulation of neural tissue using multielectrode arrays. The ASIC is foreseen for applications in systems that require simultaneous stimulation and recording of signals from various types of neural tissue, both in vitro and in vivo. The developed ASIC comprises 64 independent stimulation channels, which are capable to generate arbitrarily defined bipolar current or voltage waveforms, controlled in real time with time resolution of 12.5 μs and amplitude resolution of 7 bits. The amplitude range of output signal can be scaled over a very wide range, which ensures compatibility with various electrode arrays of different size and geometry. Each channel is also equipped with a stimulation artifact suppressor controlled in real time, which reduces the dead time of the system after each stimulation pulse. © 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.