Based on the F-H model, a simulation system to study the excitation properties of myelinated nerve fibers was developed. In order to minimize electrochemical damage of nerve tissue, a method was studied to selectively stimulate the smaller nerve fibers by single electrode employing charge-balanced biphasic rectangular pulses, in which an anode pulse with lower amplitude and longer pulse width was added before a cathode pulse with higher amplitude and short pulse width. The simulation results proved that the method is effective in selective stimulation of smaller nerve fibers in a compound nerve trunk in certain conditions. The feasibility of this method was also verified by animal experiments on the sciatic nerve trunks of toads. The amplitude and delay of compound action potential and the results of collision experiments proved that the method is valid. These methods will be very useful in functional neuromuscular stimulation.
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