Effects of Electrode Miniaturization in Micromachined Neural Prostheses

The development of neural prostheses demand smaller electrodes for new applications and more sophisticated performance in sensory perception and motor control. Micromachining methods can fulfill this requirements, but are bringing side effects with the miniaturization into the characteristics of the electrode. This papers shows up a method to predict the behavior of a wanted electrode design prior its costly fabrication. An overview of common electrodes used for neural prostheses is given and a mathematical model to simulate the electrical field distribution with a special emphasis on micro-effects that could take place with miniaturized electrodes is shown