On the Spectrum of Nerve Cuff Electrode Recordings

INTRODUCTION In the literature on recording of the electroneurogram (ENG) with nerve cuff electrodes, the influence of the contact configuration and cuff parameters on the amplitude density spectrum is hardly addressed. In contrast, in the literature on electromyography (EMG), the influence of the recording electrode configuration on the EMG spectrum is well recognized, including the dependency on action potential velocity [ 1, 21. However, an important assumption is always that at each electrode the same signal is present, apart from a conduction velocity dependent time shift. In EMG recordings this assumption may be a reasonable approximation, in nerve cuff recordings it is definitely wrong, and the presence of the cuff itself has to be accounted for.