MathWorks, Inc., Natick, MA 01760, USA.
IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 2011 Oct;58(10):2732-9. doi: 10.1109/TBME.2010.2095850. Epub 2010 Dec 3.
We are developing a vestibular implant to electrically stimulate vestibular neurons in the semicircular canals in order to alleviate vertigo, which is a commonly occurring problem. However, since electrical stimulation causes synchronous (phase-locked) neural responses, such electrical stimulation might also cause inappropriate vestibuloocular eye movements, which might, in turn, cause visual blurring. We investigated the eye movements evoked in the guinea pig using electric stimulation with a constant rate of 250 pulses per second (pps), and measured 0.010(°) peak-to-peak eye movements on an average at 250 Hz, with an average peak velocity amplitude of 8.1(°)/s, which might cause visual blurring. However, after half an hour of stimulation, that component reduced to 1.6(°)/s (0.0020(°) peak-to-peak). The average time constant for this reduction was 5.0 min. After one week of constant stimulation, the 250-Hz response component was only slightly smaller, at 1.2(°)/s (0.0015(°) peak-to-peak). We conclude that although an electrical prosthesis with a resting rate of 250 pps may cause some visual blurring when first turned on, such blurring is very likely to attenuate and be imperceptible within several minutes.
我们正在开发一种前庭植入物，以电刺激半规管中的前庭神经元，从而缓解眩晕，这是一种常见的问题。然而，由于电刺激会引起同步（锁相）的神经反应，因此这种电刺激也可能会引起不适当的前庭眼动，从而导致视觉模糊。我们使用以 250 脉冲/秒（pps）恒定速率进行的电刺激来研究豚鼠的眼动，在 250 Hz 时平均测量到 0.010(°)峰峰值眼动，平均峰值速度幅度为 8.1(°)/s，这可能会导致视觉模糊。然而，在刺激半小时后，该成分降低至 1.6(°)/s（0.0020(°)峰峰值）。这种减少的平均时间常数为 5.0 分钟。经过一周的持续刺激，250-Hz 响应成分仅略小，为 1.2(°)/s（0.0015(°)峰峰值）。我们得出结论，尽管以 250 pps 的静止速率运行的电子假体在首次打开时可能会导致一些视觉模糊，但这种模糊很可能在几分钟内减轻并变得难以察觉。
