RoaFiore Laura, Meyer Trevor, Peixoto Thaissa, Irazoqui Pedro
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Res Sq. 2024 May 2:rs.3.rs-4295137. doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4295137/v1.
Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS) was the first FDA-approved stimulation therapy to treat patients with refractory epilepsy and remains widely used. The mechanisms behind the therapeutic effect of VNS remain unknown but are thought to involve afferent-mediated modulation to cortical circuits . In this work, we use a coherent holographic imaging system to characterize vagus nerve evoked potentials (VEPs) in the cortex in response to typical VNS stimulation paradigms, which does not require electrode placement nor any genetic, structural, or functional labels. We find that stimulation amplitude strongly modulates VEPs response magnitude (effect size 0.401), while pulse width has a moderate modulatory effect (effect size 0.127) and frequency has almost no modulatory effect (effect size 0.009) on the evoked potential magnitude. We find mild interaction between pulse width and frequency. This non-contact label-free functional imaging technique could serve as a non-invasive rapid feedback tool to quantify VEPs and could increase the efficacy of VNS in patients with refractory epilepsy.
迷走神经刺激（VNS）是首个获美国食品药品监督管理局（FDA）批准用于治疗难治性癫痫患者的刺激疗法，目前仍被广泛使用。VNS治疗效果背后的机制尚不清楚，但据认为涉及传入介导的对皮质回路的调节。在这项研究中，我们使用相干全息成像系统来表征在典型VNS刺激范式下皮质中的迷走神经诱发电位（VEP），该系统不需要电极放置，也不需要任何基因、结构或功能标记。我们发现刺激幅度强烈调节VEP反应幅度（效应大小为0.401），而脉冲宽度对诱发电位幅度有中等调节作用（效应大小为0.127），频率几乎没有调节作用（效应大小为0.009）。我们发现脉冲宽度和频率之间存在轻微相互作用。这种非接触、无标记的功能成像技术可作为一种无创快速反馈工具来量化VEP，并可提高VNS对难治性癫痫患者的疗效。
