Instrumentation for neuromodulation

The explosion in understanding how the central nervous system (CNS) works a ffords new opportunities to interact with the nervous system to compensate for dysfunction due to disease or injury. Neuromodulation is a term that de scribes methods that carry out that interaction based on principles of nerv e cell physiology. There currently are two neuromodulation techniques used that require implantable devices-neurostimulation and implantable, chronic drug delivery. This article describes the devices used for neuromodulation, the motivation for the different feature sets of the devices, and the phys iological and technological principles underpinning their use. (C) 2000 IMS S. Published by Elsevier Science Inc.