Selective stimulation and neural recording on peripheral nerves using flexible split ring electrodes

© 2016 Elsevier B.V. Reliable neural interfaces between peripheral nerves and implantable devices are at the center of advanced neural prosthetics and bioelectronic medicine. In this paper, selective sciatic nerve recording and stimulation were investigated using flexible split ring electrodes. The design enabled easy and reliable implantation of active electrodes on the sciatic nerve with minimal pressure on the nerve, but still provided good electrical contact with the nerve. Selective muscle stimulation was achieved by varying the stimulation configuration of the four active electrodes on the nerve to produce different muscle activation patterns. In addition, partially evoked neural signals were also recorded from the nerve using a transverse differential bipolar configuration, demonstrating differential recording capability. In addition, we showed that the quality of the neural signals recorded by the split ring electrode was higher than recordings from a commercial cuff electrode in terms of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Overall, our data shows that this flexible split ring electrode could be effective in neuromodulation in the future.