Method and apparatus for preferential neuron stimulation
First Claim
1. A method for preferentially stimulating neural somas with respect to neural axons located near the somas but not integral with the neural somas, in a region of neural tissue comprising:
- positioning a stimulating electrode in the vicinity of the region of neural tissue and, applying a positive electrical pulse to the region of neural tissue including one or more neural somas to be stimulated and neural axons to lower a stimulation thresholds of the neural somas with respect to thresholds of the non-integral neural axons, whereby the neural somas of the neural tissue are preferentially stimulated by the positive electrical pulse over the neural axons not integral with the neural somas to be stimulated.
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Abstract
The invention provides a method for preferentially stimulating neural somas over neural axons located around the somas but not integral with the somas. In the invention, a positive electrical pulse is applied to a region of neural tissue consisting of one or more neural somas to be stimulated and neural axons, and due to the physiology of the somas, they are preferentially stimulated by the electrical pulse over the neural axons not integral with the somas to be stimulated. The preferential soma stimulation provided by the invention achieves the advantage of locally focusing external stimulation such that it may be directed to particular soma locations for indicating location-dependent sensory information. Thus the pulse scheme of the invention may be employed in prosthetic applications directed to, for example, the retinal ganglia neural tissue.
383 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method for preferentially stimulating neural somas with respect to neural axons located near the somas but not integral with the neural somas, in a region of neural tissue comprising:
- positioning a stimulating electrode in the vicinity of the region of neural tissue and, applying a positive electrical pulse to the region of neural tissue including one or more neural somas to be stimulated and neural axons to lower a stimulation thresholds of the neural somas with respect to thresholds of the non-integral neural axons, whereby the neural somas of the neural tissue are preferentially stimulated by the positive electrical pulse over the neural axons not integral with the neural somas to be stimulated.
- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for preferentially stimulating neural somas with respect to neural axons located near the somas but not integral with the somas, in a region of neural tissue comprising:
- positioning a stimulating electrode in the vicinity of the region of neural tissue and, of applying an electrical pulse to the region of neural tissue including one or more neural somas to be stimulated and neural axons to lower stimulation threshold of the neural somas with respect to thresholds of the non-integral neural axons, the electrical pulse producing an electric field in the neural tissue oriented to preferentially stimulate the neural somas over the neural axons not integral with the somas to be stimulated to initiate an action potential.
- View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
Specification