Author/Editor     Pečlin, Polona; Bizjak, Milan; Ribarič, Samo; Rozman, Janez
Title     Structural characterization of platinum foil for neural stimulating electrodes
Type     članek
Vol. and No.     Letnik 24, št. 5
Publication year     2014
Volume     str. 1827-1835
ISSN     0959-2989 - Bio-medical materials and engineering
Language     eng
Abstract     Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the structural properties of a cold-rolled platinum foil used to manufacture multi-electrode spiral nerve cuffs. Methods: To attain this objective, 0.03-mm-thick cold-rolled platinum foil strips with 99.99 wt% purity were used. The resistivity measurements were made using a 4-point probe technique in which the strips were subjected to dynamic annealing in an argon atmosphere. The stored energy of platinum was recorded in an argon atmosphere using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Finally, the microstructure of the strips was investigated by optical microscopy. Results: In the resistivity measurements, a small change is observed at ~280°C. This change could be explained as the partial recovery elicited by the decrease of dislocation density. Above 500°C, a significant decrease in resistivity was recorded, and the decrease reached a maximum at ~750°C. These results are consistent with the recrystallization trend detected in DSC, namely the DSC measurement detected very weak heat release during recrystallization, which was actually accumulated during the cold-working. This exothermal peak occurred in the temperature range 380-800°C.
Keywords     nerve stimulation
differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)
microstructure
stimulacija živcev
diferenčna dinamična kalorimetrija (DSC)
mikrostruktura