On-off control of burst high frequency electrical stimulation to suppress 4-AP induced seizures

The goal of this study was to investigate, using model simulations and animal experiments, the efficiency and the side effects of burst high frequency stimulation combined with on-off control in seizure suppression.

A modified mathematical hippocampal seizure model was created to provide evidence of the eligibility of this approach. In the experimental setup, two recording electrodes were inserted into bilateral septal CA1 of the hippocampus, and a stimulation electrode was placed on the ventral hippocampal commissure of a rat. After seizures had been induced by 4-aminopyridine treatment, on-off control stimulation was used to suppress the seizures at 20 s intervals. The stimulation time, cumulative charge and post-stimulation suppression were used to assess the effects of burst duration.

The results showed that burst stimulation could suppress the seizures during the control period and burst stimulation of a shorter duration could keep the seizure suppressed with less effort. By decreasing the burst duration, the cumulative stimulation time became shorter, the delivered cumulative charge became lower, and the cumulative time of post-stimulation suppression became longer.

The on-off control stimulation not only prolonged the duration of suppression but also avoided the side effects of the conversion of seizure patterns. In particular, decreasing the specified burst duration increased the efficiency of the burst stimulation.