Modeling of electric field effects on the excitability of myelinated motor nerve

An overview is given of methods for modeling the electric fields generated in peripheral nerve trunks by neural prosthetic implants, and the effects of such fields on the excitability of myelinated nerve fibers. Given the well-known dependence of action potential propagation on the resistive-capacitive properties of internodal myelin, the most accurate representation possible would incorporate the cable structure of myelin, along with a complete representation of nodal membrane and axoplasmic connections. An example problem is presented wherein a monopolar current source in an infinite anisotropic medium is used to stimulate mammalian myelinated motor nerve fibers of varying size and location