A modeling study of selective stimulation of nerve fibers using single cathode electrode

Electrical stimulation of unmyelinated nerve fibers was analyzed, using point sources in a simple volume conductor model and a dynamic model of Hodgkin-Huxley nerve fiber properties. The excitation and block threshold of single cathode stimulation with indifference anode at infinity were calculated by numerical method with axons of different diameters. The relation between the block threshold and the pulse width of single cathode stimulation was also calculated. The results predict a new method of selectively stimulating compound nerve trunks, which is simple and likely to be used clinically.