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Wireless Microstimulators

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Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience

Synonyms

Wireless microstimulation; Wireless stimulators

Definition

Electrical currents for neural stimulation have conventionally been delivered via metal wires to the electrode that is in contact with the tissue. The wire connections attached to these rigid electrodes, floating in a very soft medium like neural tissue, not only damage the surrounding cells from tethering forces but also limit the longevity of the implant due to wire breakage in chronic implants. Wireless transfer of stimulus energy as well as the pulse parameters to a floating electrode or an array of electrodes has gained interest in recent years as a method to eliminate the associated problems with tethering wires. Considering the properties of the neural tissue, different types of energy transfer mechanisms have been proposed for energizing the implant wirelessly: electromagnetic radio-frequency (RF), optical, and acoustic waves. The implanted electrode(s) may or may not have active electronics for storing the...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA

    David S. Freedman

  2. Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, University Heights, 07102, Newark, NJ, USA

    Mesut Sahin

  3. School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

    Prof. Bruce C. Towe

Authors
  1. David S. Freedman
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  2. Mesut Sahin
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  3. Prof. Bruce C. Towe
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to David S. Freedman .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Dieter Jaeger

  2. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA

    Ranu Jung

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© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Freedman, D.S., Sahin, M., Towe, B.C. (2014). Wireless Microstimulators. In: Jaeger, D., Jung, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_605-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_605-3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-7320-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Wireless Microstimulators
    Published:
    08 May 2014

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_605-3

  2. Original

    Wireless Microstimulators
    Published:
    08 February 2014

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_605-2

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