The effects of imbalanced biphasic stimulation were studied on cat skeletal muscle to determine if greater charge densities
can be safely used than with balanced or monophasic stimulation. The results of the study indicate that imbalanced biphasic
stimulation can be tolerated safely by tissue at or below a net dc current density of 35 μA/mm
2 and not safely tolerated at or above a net dc current of 50 μA/mm
2. Monophasic stimulation has been shown to be safe at or below net dc current levels of 10 μA/mm
2 and in these studies we found it was not safe at or above net dc current levels of 20 μA/mm
2. Stimuli were applied to muscles via coiled wire intramuscular electrodes using a regulated current source. Since the safe
average current density was higher for imbalanced biphasic stimulation than for monophasic stimulation, this suggests that:
(a) pH change is not the primary reaction causing tissue damage and (b) the damaging electrochemical process that takes place
during a cathodic stimulation pulse can be reversed by an anodic pulse having substantially less charge than its companion
cathodic pulse. We conclude that greater cathodic charge densities can be safely employed with imbalanced biphasic stimulation
than with either monophasic stimulation or balanced charge biphasic stimulation.
Keywords
Electrical stimulation
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Tissue damage
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Electrode
Supported by the Veterans Administration, Grant No. V541P-3141 and the National Institutes of Health-National Institute of
Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke, Neural Prosthesis Program, Contract No. NOI-NS-4-2362.