A testbed for algorithms to localize extracellular potentials

A testbed system was developed for investigating algorithms to detect and localize extracellular potentials of peripheral nerves. A short segment of simulated nerve fiber was assembled in a cylindrical enclosure holding a conductive medium for noise and longitudinal pathways for impulses through the segment. Simulated extracellular potentials transmitted through the segment, and their extracellular remnants are sensed by four electrodes spaced circumferencially around the perimeter. From its north, south, east, and west indices, each impulse is triangulated to an origin within the nerve's interior. That region can then be classified into one of a number of known centers by real time analog circuitry.