School of Physiology, Pharmacology & Neuroscience, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom; Anaesthesia, Pain & Critical Care Sciences, Translational Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, BS2 8HW, United Kingdom.
School of Physiology, Pharmacology & Neuroscience, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom.
Clin Neurophysiol. 2018 Nov;129(11):2475-2481. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2018.07.011. Epub 2018 Jul 29.
Microneurography is the only method for recording from single neurons in intact human nerves. It is challenging - requiring technical expertise, investment in specialised equipment and has sparse data yields.
We assessed whether ultrasound guidance in combination with an 'open access' amplifier and data capture system (Open-Ephys) would simplify and expand the scope of microneurographic recordings in humans.
In 32 healthy consenting volunteers, ultrasound-guidance improved success rates for obtaining cutaneous C-fibres and reduced "Skin to Nerve" times from 28.5 min to 4.5 min for recordings of the peroneal nerve (P < 0.0001). We illustrate the potential utility of ultrasound-guided microneurography for difficult to access nerves with phrenic nerve recording during a Valsalva manoeuvre. We show that Open Ephys is a viable alternative to commercially available recording systems and offers advantages in terms of cost and software customisability.
Ultrasound guidance for microneurography with Open Ephys facilitates cutaneous C nociceptor recordings and allows recordings to be made from nerves previously considered inaccessible.
We anticipate that the adoption of these techniques will improve microneurography experimental efficiency, adds an important visual learning aid and increases the generalisability of the approach.
神经微电生理学是记录完整人体神经中单个神经元的唯一方法。该方法具有一定挑战性，需要专业技术、专门设备的投入，并且数据产出稀疏。
我们评估了超声引导联合“开放接入”放大器和数据采集系统（Open-Ephys）是否可以简化和扩展人体神经微电生理记录的范围。
在 32 名健康志愿者中，超声引导提高了获取皮肤 C 纤维的成功率，并将“皮肤到神经”的时间从记录腓神经的 28.5 分钟缩短至 4.5 分钟（P<0.0001）。我们通过在瓦尔萨尔瓦动作期间记录膈神经，说明了超声引导神经微电生理学在记录难以触及的神经时的潜在应用。我们表明，Open Ephys 是商业可用记录系统的可行替代品，并且在成本和软件可定制性方面具有优势。
使用 Open Ephys 的超声引导神经微电生理学促进了皮肤 C 伤害感受器的记录，并允许对以前认为无法触及的神经进行记录。
我们预计这些技术的采用将提高神经微电生理学实验效率，增加重要的可视化学习辅助，并提高该方法的通用性。
