Department of Surgery, Section of Plastic Surgery, The University of Michigan Health System.
Department of Surgery, Section of Plastic Surgery, The University of Michigan Health System; Department of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
J Vis Exp. 2022 Jan 13(179). doi: 10.3791/63222.
Robotic exoskeletons have gained recent acclaim within the field of rehabilitative medicine as a promising modality for functional restoration for those individuals with extremity weakness. However, their use remains largely confined to research institutions, frequently operating as a means of static extremity support as motor detection methods remain unreliable. Peripheral nerve interfaces have arisen as a potential solution to this shortcoming; however, due to their inherently small amplitudes, these signals can be difficult to differentiate from background noise, lowering their overall motor detection accuracy. As current interfaces rely on abiotic materials, inherent material breakdown can occur alongside foreign body tissue reaction over time, further impacting their accuracy. The Muscle Cuff Regenerative Peripheral Nerve Interface (MC-RPNI) was designed to overcome these noted complications. Consisting of a segment of free muscle graft secured circumferentially to an intact peripheral nerve, the construct regenerates and becomes reinnervated by the contained nerve over time. In rats, this construct has demonstrated the ability to amplify a peripheral nerve's motor efferent action potentials up to 100 times the normal value through the generation of compound muscle action potentials (CMAPs). This signal amplification facilitates high accuracy detection of motor intent, potentially enabling reliable utilization of exoskeleton devices.
机器人外骨骼在康复医学领域最近获得了赞誉，作为一种有前途的功能恢复方式，适用于四肢无力的患者。然而，它们的使用仍然主要局限于研究机构，通常作为静态肢体支撑的手段，因为运动检测方法仍然不可靠。周围神经接口作为一种潜在的解决方案出现了；然而，由于其固有幅度较小，这些信号可能难以与背景噪声区分开来，从而降低了整体运动检测的准确性。由于当前的接口依赖于非生物材料，随着时间的推移，固有材料的降解以及异物组织反应会发生，进一步影响其准确性。肌肉袖套再生周围神经接口 (MC-RPNI) 的设计旨在克服这些已知的并发症。它由一段游离肌肉移植物环绕固定在完整的周围神经上组成，随着时间的推移，该结构会再生并被包含的神经重新支配。在大鼠中，该结构已经证明能够通过产生复合肌肉动作电位 (CMAP) 将外周神经的运动传出动作电位放大高达正常值的 100 倍。这种信号放大有助于实现运动意图的高精度检测，从而可能实现对外骨骼设备的可靠利用。
