Charge steering in a novel DBS electrode may accommodate surgical targeting errors

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) alleviates the symptoms of some neurological disorders by stimulating specific neural targets. If electrodes are placed off target, DBS amplitude must be decreased to avoid side effects induced by stimulating other neural regions. We present a novel electrode geometry capable of radial charge steering. Computational modeling results show that radial charge steering will allow this new electrode to constrain stimulation within target boundaries, despite surgical placement error, thus reducing side-effects from over stimulation.