One approach to reestablish disabled functions or to treat chronic diseases of patients is the electrical stimulation of nerves. This requires, in addition to special stimulator electronics, a dedicated electrode in close contact with the specific nerve. We present a new type of spiral self-sizing nerve cuff electrode capable of selective activating specific regions of a nerve trunk. The cuff consists of eight active contacts produced by technologies taken from microelectronics. A platinum metalization for contacts and connection wires was made on a sandwich flexible bi-layer polyimide foil substrate embedded in a biocompatible insulation (silicone). With such a design wrap thickness under 40 um were obtained. The spiral-like arrangement of the cuff placed around the nerve trunk allows a tight cuff to nerve contact without penetrating the nerve. The miniaturized active contact area along with the increased number of electrodes imply a highly spatial selectivity together with the need for a high charge transfer. Therefore we are focusing our research on alternative coatings like iridium oxide which promises to enable high current densities. The electrode's design, requirements and production are described.
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