Huang Yu, Thomas Chris, Datta Abhishek
Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2019 Jul;2019:6290-6293. doi: 10.1109/EMBC.2019.8856689.
Transcutaneous spinal cord direct current stimulation (tSDCS) has been applied as an easy non-invasive approach to modulate spinal cord functions. Currently there is no formal layout or guidelines for electrode placement to optimize tSDCS. Most clinical applications simply place the stimulating electrode over the intended spinal cord target. Here we show that this ad hoc method cannot achieve optimal stimulation. Specifically, we propose a new electrode layout for optimized tSDCS. The candidate high-definition electrodes distribute on the back of the body evenly and the layout was named 3/9/7 system. Algorithmic optimization was performed leveraging this electrode placement system and a 1 mm human full body model. Results show that the optimal stimulation montages cannot be trivially determined and they outperform the unoptimized stimulation configuration. This work opens the possibility for systematic treatment planning in future clinical applications of tSDCS.
经皮脊髓直流电刺激（tSDCS）已被用作一种简便的非侵入性方法来调节脊髓功能。目前尚无用于优化tSDCS的电极放置的正式布局或指南。大多数临床应用只是将刺激电极放置在预期的脊髓目标上方。在此我们表明，这种临时方法无法实现最佳刺激。具体而言，我们提出了一种用于优化tSDCS的新电极布局。候选的高清电极均匀分布在身体背部，该布局被称为3/9/7系统。利用此电极放置系统和1毫米人体全身模型进行了算法优化。结果表明，最佳刺激组合不能轻易确定，并且它们优于未优化的刺激配置。这项工作为tSDCS未来临床应用中的系统治疗规划开辟了可能性。
