Fractal Microelectrodes for More Energy‐Efficient Cervical Vagus Nerve Stimulation

• DOI: 10.1002/adhm.202202619
• Publication Date: 2023-03-28T05:15:20Z
• Authors: Jongcheon Lim; Calvin D. Eiber; Anina Sun; Amanda Maples; Terry L. Powley; Matthew P. Ward; Hyowon Lee
• Keywords: Vagus Nerve Stimulation

Abstract Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) has the potential to treat various peripheral dysfunctions, but traditional cuff electrodes for VNS are susceptible off‐target effects. Microelectrodes may enable highly selective that can mitigate effects, they suffer from increased impedance. Recent studies on microelectrodes with non‐Euclidean geometries have reported higher energy efficiency in neural applications. These previous use mm/cm‐scale dimensions, mostly targeted myelinated fibers. This study evaluates fractal a rodent model ( N = 3). A thin‐film device and circle is fabricated compare their performance same radial coordinate of nerve. The results show activate C‐fibers up 52% less p 0.012) compared microelectrodes. To best knowledge, this work first demonstrate geometric advantage vivo.