Systems and methods for determining volume of activation for deep brain stimulation

1. A computer system comprising a processor that comprises:

a finite element model (FEM) circuit, configured to determine a FEM that models an implanted electrode, a tissue medium in which the electrode is implanted, and an electrode-tissue interface;

a Fourier FEM solver circuit communicatively coupled to the FEM circuit and configured to calculate a potential distribution in the tissue medium using information from the FEM circuit and a capacitive component of at least one of the electrode, the tissue medium, and the electrode-tissue interface, wherein the calculating includes:

separating a stimulus waveform into frequency components;

obtaining a solution of a Poisson equation at at least one frequency component with a stiffness matrix (σ+iω), wherein the stiffness matrix is representative of the capacitive component of the at least one of the electrode, the tissue medium, and the electrode-tissue interface; and

using the solution to reassemble the stimulus waveform; and

a volume of activation (VOA) circuit, communicatively coupled to the Fourier FEM solver circuit, configured to provide a predicted VOA using the potential distribution and a neuron model.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the Fourier FEM solver circuit is configured to calculate the potential distribution in the tissue medium using the capacitive component of the electrode-tissue interface.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the electrode-tissue interface includes an encapsulation area around the electrode.

4. A computer system comprising a processor that comprises:

a finite element model (FEM) circuit, configured to determine a FEM that models an implanted electrode and a tissue medium in which the electrode is implanted;

a Fourier FEM solver circuit communicatively coupled to the FEM circuit and configured to calculate a potential distribution in the tissue medium using information from the FEM circuit and a capacitive component of at least one of the electrode and the tissue medium, wherein the calculating includes:

separating a stimulus waveform into frequency components;

obtaining a solution of a Poisson equation at at least one frequency component with a stiffness matrix (σ+iω), wherein the stiffness matrix is representative of the capacitive component of the at least one of the electrode and the tissue medium; and

using the solution to reassemble the stimulus waveform; and

a volume of activation (VOA) circuit, communicatively coupled to the Fourier FEM solver circuit, configured to provide a predicted VOA using the potential distribution and a neuron model.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the Fourier FEM solver circuit is configured to calculate the potential distribution in the tissue medium in both time and space.

6. The system of claim 4 , wherein the VOA circuit is configured to interpolate the potential distribution onto a plurality of model axons.

7. The system of claim 4 , wherein the VOA circuit is configured to predict a VOA using multiple stimulation waveforms.

8. The system of claim 4 , including an impedance circuit, coupled to the Fourier FEM solver circuit, configured to calculate an impedance by dividing a stimulation voltage by an integrated current density along an active electrode contact; and wherein Fourier FEM solver circuit is configured to calculate a potential distribution using the calculated impedance.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, including instructions that, when performed by a computer, cause the computer to:

determine a finite element model (FEM) of an implanted electrode and a tissue medium in which the electrode is implanted;

calculate a potential distribution in the tissue medium using a Fourier FEM solver and a capacitive component of at least one of the electrode and the tissue medium, wherein the calculating includes:

separating a stimulus waveform into frequency components;

obtaining a solution of a Poisson equation at at least one frequency component with a stiffness matrix (σ+iω), wherein the stiffness matrix is representative of the capacitive component of the at least one of the electrode and the tissue medium; and

using the solution to reassemble the stimulus waveform; and

predict a volume of activation (VOA) using the potential distribution and a neuron model.

10. A computer system comprising a processor that is programmed to perform steps comprising:

determining a finite element model (FEM) of an implanted electrode and a tissue medium in which the electrode is implanted;

calculating a potential distribution in the tissue medium using a Fourier FEM solver and a capacitive component of at least one of the electrode and the tissue medium, wherein the calculating includes:

separating a stimulus waveform into frequency components;

obtaining a solution of a Poisson equation at at least one frequency component with a stiffness matrix (σ+iω), wherein the stiffness matrix is representative of the capacitive component of the at least one of the electrode and the tissue medium; and

using the solution to reassemble the stimulus waveform; and

predicting a volume of activation (VOA) using the potential distribution and a neuron model.

11. A computer-assisted method comprising:

determining a finite element model (FEM) of an implanted electrode, a tissue medium in the electrode is implanted, and an electrode-tissue interface;

calculating a potential distribution in the tissue medium using a Fourier FEM solver and a capacitive component of at least one of the electrode, the tissue medium, and the electrode-tissue interface, wherein the calculating the potential distribution in the tissue medium includes:

separating a stimulus waveform into frequency components;

obtaining a solution of a Poisson equation at at least one frequency component with a stiffness matrix (σ+iω), wherein the stiffness matrix is representative of the capacitive component of the at least one of the electrode, the tissue medium, and the electrode-tissue interface; and

using the solution to reassemble the stimulus waveform; and

predicting a volume of activation (VOA) using the potential distribution and a neuron model.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the calculating the potential distribution in the tissue medium includes using capacitive component of the electrode-tissue interface.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the using the capacitive component of the electrode-tissue interface includes using the capacitive component of an encapsulation layer around the electrode.

14. A computer-assisted method comprising:

determining a finite element model (FEM) of an implanted electrode and a tissue medium in which the electrode is implanted;

calculating a potential distribution in the tissue medium using a Fourier FEM solver and a capacitive component of at least one of the electrode and the tissue medium, wherein the calculating the potential distribution includes:

separating a stimulus waveform into frequency components;

obtaining a solution of a Poisson equation at at least one frequency component with a stiffness matrix (σ+iω), wherein the stiffness matrix is representative of the capacitive component of the at least one of the electrode and the tissue medium; and

using the solution to reassemble the stimulus waveform; and

predicting a volume of activation (VOA) using the potential distribution and a neuron model.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the calculating the potential distribution in the tissue medium includes calculating the potential distribution in the tissue medium in both time and space.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the using the potential distribution and the neuron model includes interpolating the potential distribution onto a plurality of model axons.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the predicting the VOA includes using multiple stimulation waveforms.

18. The method of claim 15 , further comprising calculating an impedance by dividing a stimulation voltage by an integrated current density along an active electrode contact; and wherein the calculating the potential distribution includes using the calculated impedance.

19. A method comprising:

determining a finite element model (FEM) of an implanted electrode, a tissue medium in which the electrode is implanted, and an electrode-tissue interface;

calculating an impedance by dividing a stimulation voltage by an integrated current density along an active electrode contact;

calculating a potential distribution in the tissue medium in both time and space using a Fourier FEM solver, using a capacitive component of at least one of the electrode, the tissue medium, and the electrode-tissue interface, and using the calculated impedance, wherein the calculating the potential distribution includes:

separating a stimulus waveform into frequency components;

obtaining a solution of a Poisson equation at at least one frequency component with a stiffness matrix (σ+iω), wherein the stiffness matrix is representative of a capacitive component of at least one of the electrode and the tissue medium; and

using the solution to reassemble the stimulus waveform; and

predicting a volume of activation (VOA) using multiple stimulation waveforms; using the potential distribution, and using a neuron model;

wherein the predicting the VOA includes interpolating the potential distribution onto a plurality of model axons.