Modelling the probabilistic neural activation in deep brain stimulation: Influence of uncertainty in the parameters of the electrode-tissue-interface

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a neurosurgical method of stimulating deep brain areas with electrical pulses to treat symptoms of neurodegenerative disorders. To date in human DBS, these pulses are commonly voltage controlled resulting in a formation of an electrical double layer at the electrode-tissue-interface, which influences the time-dependent voltage response and neural activation in the proximity of the stimulated target. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of uncertainties in these parameters. A probabilistic method based on a multi-dimensional polynomial expansion in combination with computationally efficient sparse grid integration technique was used. The results suggested that the influence of uncertainty in the parameters of the electrical double layer on the investigated quantities is negligible in volume conductor models of DBS.