Bioengineering College, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China.
IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 2012 Jun;59(6):1758-69. doi: 10.1109/TBME.2012.2194146. Epub 2012 Apr 9.
The electrical behavior of the Xenopus laevis nerve fibers was studied when combined electrical (cuff electrodes) and optical (infrared laser, low power sub-5 mW) stimulations are applied. Assuming that the main effect of the laser irradiation on the nerve tissue is the localized temperature increase, this paper analyzes and gives new insights into the function of the combined thermoelectric stimulation on both excitation and blocking of the nerve action potentials (AP). The calculations involve a finite-element model (COMSOL) to represent the electrical properties of the nerve and cuff. Electric-field distribution along the nerve was computed for the given stimulation current profile and imported into a NEURON model, which was built to simulate the electrical behavior of myelinated nerve fiber under extracellular stimulation. The main result of this study of combined thermoelectric stimulation showed that local temperature increase, for the given electric field, can create a transient block of both the generation and propagation of the APs. Some preliminary experimental data in support of this conclusion are also shown.
当同时应用电刺激（袖套电极）和光刺激（红外激光，低功率小于 5mW）时，研究了非洲爪蟾神经纤维的电行为。假设激光辐照对神经组织的主要影响是局部温度升高，本文分析并深入了解了热电联合刺激对神经动作电位（AP）激发和阻断的作用。该计算涉及有限元模型（COMSOL）来表示神经和袖套的电特性。针对给定的刺激电流分布计算了沿神经的电场分布，并将其导入到一个神经元模型中，该模型被构建来模拟在细胞外刺激下有髓神经纤维的电行为。联合热电刺激的主要研究结果表明，对于给定的电场，局部温度升高可以产生 AP 的产生和传播的瞬时阻断。还展示了一些支持这一结论的初步实验数据。
