IEEE transactions on rehabilitation engineering : a publication of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society
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IEEE Trans Rehabil Eng · Sep 1998
Case ReportsTheoretical performance and clinical evaluation of transverse tripolar spinal cord stimulation.
A new type of spinal cord stimulation electrode, providing contact combinations with a transverse orientation, is presented. Electrodes were implanted in the cervical area (C4-C5) of two chronic pain patients and the stimulation results were subsequently simulated with a computer model consisting of a volume conductor model and active nerve fiber models. ⋯ The (a)symmetry of paresthesia could largely be affected in a predictable way by the selection of contact combinations as well. The transverse tripolar combination was shown to give a higher selectivity of paresthesia than monopolar and longitudinal dipolar combinations, at the cost of an increased current (more than twice).