Comparing Optimal and Commercially Available Bipolar and Tripolar Concentric Ring Electrode Configurations Using Finite Element Method Modeling Based on Their Finite Dimensions Models

While finite element method modeling has been used to compare bipolar and tripolar concentric ring electrode configurations in the past it was based on the simplistic negligible dimensions model of the electrode. This study uses realistic finite dimensions models including novel optimal bipolar and tripolar configurations and directly compares them to bipolar configurations of the same size with dimensions corresponding to the commercially available CoDe® electrodes manufactured by Spes Medica. Moreover, it also compares bipolar and tripolar configurations of different sizes. In particular, optimal tripolar concentric ring electrode configuration is compared to a bipolar configuration consisting out of its central disc and middle ring only. Obtained results include relative and normalized maximum errors of Laplacian estimation. Compared to the optimal tripolar concentric ring electrode configuration, commercially available bipolar electrode of the same size corresponds to a median increase in Laplacian estimation errors of 120-146 times while its counterpart one third of its size corresponds to an increase of 15-18 times. Compared to the optimal bipolar configuration, commercially available bipolar electrode of the same size corresponds to a median increase in Laplacian estimation errors of 1.2 times. These results are consistent with previously obtained results based on the negligible dimensions models.