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The Muscle Cuff Regenerative Peripheral Nerve Interface for the Amplification of Intact Peripheral Nerve Signals
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Modulating individual axons and axonal populations in the peripheral nerve using transverse intrafascicular
Yuyang Xie1, Peijun Qin1, Tianruo Guo1
1Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, UNSW Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
Journal of Neural Engineering
|August 3, 2023
Summary
A new computational toolkit enables efficient modeling of nerve stimulation with transverse intrafascicular multichannel electrodes (TIME). Simulations show TIME can selectively activate C-fibers, with hexapolar arrangements enhancing selectivity and a novel waveform reducing unwanted responses.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Computational Neuroscience
- Neural Engineering
Background:
- Conventional cuff electrodes have limitations in spatial selectivity and stimulation charge requirements for nerve stimulation.
- Transverse intrafascicular multichannel electrodes (TIME) offer potential advantages but require further investigation, especially with novel stimulation waveforms.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate a computational toolkit for simulating nerve stimulation using TIME.
- To investigate the efficacy of TIME with different configurations and stimulation waveforms for selective nerve fiber activation.
Main Methods:
- Developed a scalable Python/MATLAB toolkit integrating NEURON and COMSOL for automated nerve model creation and simulation.
- Created a detailed sciatic nerve model (1,170 fibers: 30% A-type, 70% C-type) for TIME simulations.
- Evaluated monopolar and hexapolar TIME arrangements with kilohertz stimulation and cathodic ramp modulation waveforms.
Main Results:
- The toolkit streamlines the creation and analysis of nerve stimulation models, reducing errors and enabling bi-directional data transfer.
- Kilohertz stimulation selectively activated C-fibers but also non-targeted A-fibers; hexapolar TIME configurations improved C-fiber selectivity.
- A novel high-frequency waveform with a cathodic DC ramp effectively eliminated undesirable nerve onset responses.
Conclusions:
- The developed toolkit facilitates agile design and optimization of intrafascicular electrode systems.
- The findings support the optimization of next-generation intrafascicular implants for enhanced spatial and fiber-type selectivity in nerve stimulation.
