Document Type

Thesis

Date of Award

Fall 1-31-2012

Degree Name

Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering - (M.S.)

Department

Biomedical Engineering

First Advisor

Mesut Sahin

Second Advisor

Sergei Adamovich

Third Advisor

Joel Schesser

Abstract

The subject of this thesis is a software tool created in Matlab ® for neural stimulation and recording of the evoked potentials. The stimulation output can be delivered in electrical units for immediate use for neural stimulation or as a power control signal to a laser. NeuralSTA is designed to generate arbitrary waveforms of stimulation and simultaneously record the neural response while implementing the spike triggered averaging (STA) method, hence the name NeuralSTA. The output (stimulation) signal can be created in monophasic, biphasic or inverted monophasic forms (for laser control applications). Controls for pulse modulation allow shaping of the pulse waveform, and the controls for the signal allow for modulation of the entire stimulation pattern. In addition to generating arbitrary waveforms, NeuralSTA can also be programmed for repetitive generation of the output stimulation pattern as well as a stepwise increase of the amplitude during each repetition.

NeuralSTA was tested in several animal experiments during a year, and continuously updated to meet the specific requirements that were noticed during each testing. As a result, many options are provided to the user in order to meet typical requirements in most common applications of neural stimulation and recording.

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