Design and implement of a multi-channel electrophysiological stimulation software / 国际生物医学工程杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To design and implement a universal multi-channel software for neural electrophysiological stimulation experimental platforms. Method The layered design of software and hardware was adopted for the logical architecture to avoid excessive reliance on specific hardware. On the premise of ensuring compatibility with existing devices, an extensible control algorithm based on the .NET Frameworks platform was developed to realize multi-channel, feedback-controlled program-controlled stimulus output. The proposed software was designed with a user-friendly interface and stimulating/recording switch function, and could dynamically change stimulation programs and switch electrodes during the experiment process. Results The results showed that the software could control the stimulators steadily and generate random stimulation protocols and synchronization control signals according to the user-supplied dynamical parameters, including electrodes, amplitudes, and intervals. In the stimulation sequence, the switching delay between two electrodes was around 600 ms level. Conclusion The software has good compatibility with existing equipment systems. It can achieve multi-channel, real-time, feedback-controlled program-controlled stimulation according to the characteristics and needs of multi-lead neural electrophysiological stimulation researches. It has the functions of dynamically changing the stimulation program and switching electrodes during operation. This software provides tools for the study of the mechanism of network-level neural network feedback loops.