Normann Richard A
Department of Bioengineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA.
Nat Clin Pract Neurol. 2007 Aug;3(8):444-52. doi: 10.1038/ncpneuro0556.
Most disorders of the nervous system result from localized sensory or motor pathologies attributable to disease or trauma. The emerging field of neuroprosthetics is focused on the development of therapeutic interventions that will be able to restore some of this lost neural function by selective electrical stimulation of sensory or motor pathways, or by harnessing activity recorded from remnant neural pathways. A key element in this restoration of function has been the development of a new generation of penetrating microelectrode arrays that provide unprecedented selective access to the neurons of the CNS and PNS. The active tips of these microelectrode arrays penetrate the nervous tissues and abut against small populations of neurons or nerve fibers, thereby providing selective access to these cells. These electrode arrays are not only beginning to provide researchers with the ability to better study the spatiotemporal information processing performed by the nervous system, they can also form the basis for new therapies for disorders of the nervous system. In this Review, three examples of this new generation of microelectrode arrays are described, as are potential therapeutic applications in blindness and spinal cord injury, and for the control of prosthetic limbs.
大多数神经系统疾病是由疾病或创伤引起的局部感觉或运动病理学所致。神经假体这一新兴领域专注于开发治疗性干预措施，通过对感觉或运动通路进行选择性电刺激，或利用从残余神经通路记录的活动，来恢复部分丧失的神经功能。功能恢复的一个关键因素是新一代穿透式微电极阵列的开发，这种阵列能以前所未有的方式选择性地接触中枢神经系统和周围神经系统的神经元。这些微电极阵列的活性尖端穿透神经组织，与少量神经元或神经纤维邻接，从而实现对这些细胞的选择性接触。这些电极阵列不仅开始使研究人员能够更好地研究神经系统进行的时空信息处理，还可为神经系统疾病的新疗法奠定基础。在本综述中，描述了这种新一代微电极阵列的三个实例，以及在失明和脊髓损伤治疗以及假肢控制方面的潜在治疗应用。
