A Real-time Simulation Platform Design Based on Neural Mass Model for Deep Brain Stimulation

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) plays an important role in the clinical treatment of neuropsychiatrie diseases, such as epilepsy. In current clinical applications, the stimulus parameters are mostly adjusted by doctors based on experience, and it is difficult to adjust into an effective range, resulting in the diseases cannot be completely cured. In order to enhance the effect of stimulus, we design a real-time simulation platform based-on model for DBS. By digital signal processor (DSP), this platform completes hardware implementation of neural mass model (NMM), a physiological model, which can simulate cortical brain activity by describing the relationship about excitability and Inhibition between pyramidal neurons and interneurons within the cortex column. After outputting analog electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, a bleeder circuit designed as signal processing module for simulating real environment is proposed. We demonstrate that the platform is able to have response immediately to the stimulus signals, which is generated by the function generator or DSP.