IEEE Trans Neural Syst Rehabil Eng. 2017 Sep;25(9):1365-1374. doi: 10.1109/TNSRE.2016.2628760. Epub 2016 Nov 15.
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) devices deliver electrical pulses to neural tissue through an electrode. To study the mechanisms and therapeutic benefits of deep brain stimulation, murine preclinical research is necessary. However, conducting naturalistic long-term, uninterrupted animal behavioral experiments can be difficult with bench-top systems. The reduction of size, weight, power consumption, and cost of DBS devices can assist the progress of this research in animal studies. A low power, low weight, miniature DBS device is presented in this paper. This device consists of electronic hardware and software components including a low-power microcontroller, an adjustable current source, an n-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor, a coin-cell battery, electrode wires and a software program to operate the device. Evaluation of the performance of the device in terms of battery lifetime and device functionality through bench and in vivo tests was conducted. The bench test revealed that this device can deliver continuous stimulation current pulses of strength [Formula: see text], width [Formula: see text], and frequency 130 Hz for over 22 days. The in vivo tests demonstrated that chronic stimulation of the nucleus accumbens (NAc) with this device significantly increased psychomotor activity, together with a dramatic reduction in anxiety-like behavior in the elevated zero-maze test.
深部脑刺激 (DBS) 设备通过电极向神经组织输送电脉冲。为了研究深部脑刺激的机制和治疗益处，需要进行啮齿动物临床前研究。然而，使用台式系统进行自然的长期、不间断的动物行为实验可能具有挑战性。DBS 设备的尺寸、重量、功耗和成本的降低可以帮助推进动物研究中的这项研究。本文提出了一种低功耗、低重量、微型的 DBS 设备。该设备由电子硬件和软件组件组成，包括低功耗微控制器、可调电流源、n 沟道金属氧化物半导体场效应晶体管、纽扣电池、电极线和用于操作设备的软件程序。通过台架和体内测试评估了设备在电池寿命和设备功能方面的性能。台架测试表明，该设备可以连续输送强度为 [Formula: see text]、宽度为 [Formula: see text]、频率为 130 Hz 的刺激电流脉冲，持续超过 22 天。体内测试表明，该设备对伏隔核 (NAc) 的慢性刺激显著增加了精神运动活动，同时在高架零迷宫测试中焦虑样行为明显减少。
