Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA.
J Neural Eng. 2014 Feb;11(1):016001. doi: 10.1088/1741-2560/11/1/016001. Epub 2013 Dec 5.
Localized activation of peripheral axons may improve selectivity of peripheral nerve interfaces. Infrared neural stimulation (INS) employs localized delivery to activate neural tissue. This study investigated INS to determine whether localized delivery limited functionality in larger mammalian nerves.
The rabbit sciatic nerve was stimulated extraneurally with 1875 nm wavelength infrared light, electrical stimulation, or a combination of both. Infrared-sensitive regions (ISR) of the nerve surface and electromyogram (EMG) recruitment of the Medial Gastrocnemius, Lateral Gastrocnemius, Soleus, and Tibialis Anterior were the primary output measures. Stimulation applied included infrared-only, electrical-only, and combined infrared and electrical.
81% of nerves tested were sensitive to INS, with 1.7 ± 0.5 ISR detected per nerve. INS was selective to a single muscle within 81% of identified ISR. Activation energy threshold did not change significantly with stimulus power, but motor activation decreased significantly when radiant power was decreased. Maximum INS levels typically recruited up to 2-9% of any muscle. Combined infrared and electrical stimulation differed significantly from electrical recruitment in 7% of cases.
The observed selectivity of INS indicates that it may be useful in augmenting rehabilitation, but significant challenges remain in increasing sensitivity and response magnitude to improve the functionality of INS.
外周轴突的局部激活可能会提高外周神经接口的选择性。红外神经刺激(INS)采用局部输送来激活神经组织。本研究调查了 INS,以确定局部输送是否会限制较大哺乳动物神经的功能。
采用 1875nm 波长红外光、电刺激或两者结合的方式对外周兔坐骨神经进行神经外刺激。神经表面的红外敏感区(ISR)和内侧比目鱼肌、外侧比目鱼肌、比目鱼肌和胫骨前肌的肌电图(EMG)募集是主要的输出测量指标。施加的刺激包括仅红外刺激、仅电刺激以及红外和电刺激的组合。
81%的测试神经对 INS 敏感,每条神经检测到 1.7±0.5 个 ISR。INS 对 81%已识别的 ISR 中的单个肌肉具有选择性。激活能量阈值随刺激功率的变化没有明显变化,但当辐射功率降低时,运动激活显著降低。最大 INS 水平通常可募集任何肌肉的 2-9%。在 7%的情况下,红外和电刺激的组合与电刺激募集有显著差异。
INS 的观察到的选择性表明它可能有助于增强康复,但在提高灵敏度和响应幅度以改善 INS 的功能方面仍存在重大挑战。