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Published on: December 8, 2018
Finite element analysis of a microelectrode on a substrate
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, Louisiana Tech University, LA, USA.
Summary
Analytical models for microelectrode voltage fields are limited by complex geometries. A finite element model (FEM) shows FEM is needed for narrow substrates, improving accuracy for microelectrode simulations.
Area of Science:
- Bioengineering
- Computational Electrophysiology
Background:
- Analytical solutions for microelectrode voltage fields exist for simple geometries.
- Practical microelectrodes often have complex geometries deviating from ideal models.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine when analytical methods for microelectrode voltage fields introduce significant errors.
- To develop and validate a finite element model (FEM) for microelectrodes on planar substrates.
Main Methods:
- Developed a finite element model (FEM) to simulate the potential field of a circular disk microelectrode on a planar substrate.
- Compared FEM results with an existing analytical model (Wiley and Webster).
Main Results:
- Peak voltage at the contact surface depends on substrate width.
- Analytical models become inaccurate for narrow substrate widths (less than twice the contact diameter).
- Finite element modeling is necessary for accurate simulations in such cases.
Conclusions:
- Finite element modeling is essential for accurate microelectrode voltage field analysis with non-ideal geometries.
- The study provides guidelines for selecting appropriate modeling techniques based on substrate width.
- Further investigation into intercontact distance effects for bipolar electrodes is warranted.
