A bioelectric router for adaptive isochronous neurostimulation enables multipolar bioelectric stimulation from a...

Multipolar intracranial electrical brain stimulation (iEBS) is a method that has potential to improve clinical applications of mono- and bipolar iEBS, including deep brain stimulation (DBS) and sensory prosthetics. Current tools for multipolar iEBS can have high entry costs, lack flexibility in managing stimulation parameters and electrodes, and can include unnecessary clinical features. To enable novel multipolar iEBS research, we developed the Bioelectric Router for Adaptive Isochronous Neuro Stimulation (BRAINS) board. The BRAINS board is a cost-effective, customizable, and scalable device designed to facilitate multipolar iEBS experiments using electrode arrays. The BRAINS board allows user configuration of each channel independently and prioritizes ease of integration with experimental setups. It supports remote configuration changes for rapid switching of electrode states while maintaining output isolation and low noise. We performed bench-top validation of monopolar, bipolar, and multipolar stimulation regimes as well as validation in vivo in mouse primary visual cortex and measured using Neuropixel recordings. The BRAINS board demonstrates no meaningful differences in Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) noise or signal-to-noise ratio compared to the baseline performance of the isolated stimulator alone. The board supports configuration changes at a rate of up to 600 Hz without introducing residual noise. The BRAINS board enables modulation of spatial and temporal specificity of electrical neuromodulation with stimulating arrays, with integration into control systems for real-time neural feedback.