{"title":"Discharge Correction Under Asymmetric Electrode-Electrolyte Interfaces in Bipolar Stimulation","authors":"Jialei Wu;Simeng Yin;Yixin Zhou;Keping Wang","doi":"10.1109/TCSII.2025.3580714","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Neural electrical stimulators have been widely used in biomedical applications, especially those with multiple channels. However, the electrode-electrolyte interfaces are usually not identical, which is rarely discussed in stimulator design. This brief first analyzes the stimulation and discharge phases in bipolar stimulation when the interfaces are not identical, proving that the asymmetry will lead to incomplete discharge. To address this issue, we propose a tripolar stimulator by introducing a return electrode to discharge the working and counter electrodes separately. The prototype of a 4-channel tripolar stimulator is designed and fabricated in a 180-nm CMOS technology, with each stimulation channel occupying 0.176 mm2. The maximum stimulation current is 2.8 mA. After discharge, residual voltages are near-zero in both electrical and in vitro tests.","PeriodicalId":13101,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II: Express Briefs","volume":"72 8","pages":"1013-1017"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II: Express Briefs","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11039725/","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ENGINEERING, ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Neural electrical stimulators have been widely used in biomedical applications, especially those with multiple channels. However, the electrode-electrolyte interfaces are usually not identical, which is rarely discussed in stimulator design. This brief first analyzes the stimulation and discharge phases in bipolar stimulation when the interfaces are not identical, proving that the asymmetry will lead to incomplete discharge. To address this issue, we propose a tripolar stimulator by introducing a return electrode to discharge the working and counter electrodes separately. The prototype of a 4-channel tripolar stimulator is designed and fabricated in a 180-nm CMOS technology, with each stimulation channel occupying 0.176 mm2. The maximum stimulation current is 2.8 mA. After discharge, residual voltages are near-zero in both electrical and in vitro tests.
期刊介绍:
TCAS II publishes brief papers in the field specified by the theory, analysis, design, and practical implementations of circuits, and the application of circuit techniques to systems and to signal processing. Included is the whole spectrum from basic scientific theory to industrial applications. The field of interest covered includes:
Circuits: Analog, Digital and Mixed Signal Circuits and Systems
Nonlinear Circuits and Systems, Integrated Sensors, MEMS and Systems on Chip, Nanoscale Circuits and Systems, Optoelectronic
Circuits and Systems, Power Electronics and Systems
Software for Analog-and-Logic Circuits and Systems
Control aspects of Circuits and Systems.