Method and Apparatus to Provide Safety Checks for Neural Stimulation

A method of controlling the stimulation of neural tissue comprising:

• providing a neural stimulator driving at least one electrode suitable to stimulate neural tissue;
• providing a test current pulse to an electrode of the at least one electrode;
• taking at least one measurement of an IR drop voltage across said electrode;
• calculating a pre-short maximum voltage from at least one IR drop voltage measurement;
• and
• comparing the pre-short maximum voltage to a threshold leakage voltage value.

A neural stimulator comprising:

• a neural stimulation controller;
• a current pulse generator;
• at least one electrode driven by said neural stimulation controller and suitable to stimulate neural tissue;
• a meter device for taking at least one measurement of an IR drop across each of the at least one electrode when subjected to a test current pulse.