IEEE Trans Neural Syst Rehabil Eng. 2019 May;27(5):805-813. doi: 10.1109/TNSRE.2019.2908674. Epub 2019 Apr 2.
Recently, a specific repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) waveform, namely, the theta burst stimulation (TBS) protocol, has been proposed for more efficiently inducing neuroplasticity for various clinic rehabilitation purposes. However, few studies have explored the feasibility of using the TBS combined with direct current (dc) waveform for brain neuromodulation; this waveform is transcranially delivered using electrical current power rather than magnetic power. This study implemented a prototype of a novel transcranial electrostimulation device that can flexibly output a waveform that combined dc and the TBS-like protocol and assessed the effects of the novel combinational waveform on neuroplasticity. An in vivo experiment was conducted first to validate the accuracy of the stimulator's current output at various impedance loads. Using this transcranial stimulator, a series of transcranial stimulation experiments was conducted on the brain cortex of rats, in which electrode-tissue impedance and motor evoked potentials (MEPs) were measured. These experiments were designed to assess the feasibility and efficacy of the new combinational waveforms for brain neuroplasticity. Our results indicated that the transcranial electrostimulation system exhibited satisfactory performance, as evidenced by the error percentage of less than 5% for current output. In the animal experiment, the dc combined with intermittent TBS-like protocol exerted a stronger neuroplastic effect than the conventional dc protocol. These results demonstrated that the combination of electrical dc and TBS-like protocols in our system can produce a new feasible therapeutic waveform for transcranially inducing a promising neuromodulatory effect on various diseases of the central nervous system.
最近，一种特定的重复经颅磁刺激（rTMS）波形，即 theta 爆发刺激（TBS）方案，已被提议用于更有效地诱导各种临床康复目的的神经可塑性。然而，很少有研究探索使用 TBS 与直流（dc）波形结合进行脑神经调节的可行性；这种波形通过电流功率而不是磁力功率经颅传递。本研究实现了一种新型经颅电刺激设备的原型，该设备可以灵活地输出组合了 dc 和 TBS 样方案的波形，并评估了新型组合波形对神经可塑性的影响。首先进行了一项体内实验，以验证刺激器在各种阻抗负载下的电流输出的准确性。使用这种经颅刺激器，对大鼠大脑皮层进行了一系列经颅刺激实验，测量了电极-组织阻抗和运动诱发电位（MEPs）。这些实验旨在评估新的组合波形对脑神经可塑性的可行性和效果。我们的结果表明，经颅电刺激系统表现出令人满意的性能，电流输出的误差百分比小于 5%。在动物实验中，dc 与间歇性 TBS 样方案的组合比传统的 dc 方案具有更强的神经可塑性作用。这些结果表明，我们系统中电 dc 和 TBS 样方案的组合可以产生一种新的可行的治疗波形，用于经颅诱导对中枢神经系统的各种疾病产生有前途的神经调节作用。
