Spatial steering of deep brain stimulation volumes using a novel lead design

Objective To investigate steering the volume of activated tissue ( VTA ) with deep brain stimulation (DBS) using a novel high spatial-resolution lead design. Methods We examined the effect of asymmetric current-injection across the DBS-array on the VTA . These predictions were then evaluated acutely in a non-human primate implanted with the DBS-array, using motor side-effect thresholds as the metric for estimating VTA asymmetries. Results Simulations show the DBS-array, with electrodes arranged together in a cylindrical configuration, can generate field distributions equivalent to commercial DBS leads, and these field distributions can be modulated using field-steering methods. Stimulation with implanted DBS-arrays showed directionally-selective muscle activation, presumably through spread of stimulation fields into portions of the corticospinal tract lying in the internal capsule. Conclusions Our computational and experimental studies demonstrate that the DBS-array is capable of spatially selective stimulation. Displacing VTA s away from the lead’s axis can be achieved using a single simple and intuitive control parameter. Significance Optimal DBS likely requires non-uniform VTA s that may differentially affect a nucleus or fiber pathway. The DBS-array allows positioning VTA s with sub-millimeter precision, which is especially relevant for those patients with DBS leads placed in sub-optimal locations. This may present clinicians with an additional degree of freedom to optimize the DBS therapy.