Investigation of the mechanisms for wireless nerve stimulation without active electrodes
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(Published version)
Date
2023
Authors
Smith, L.A.
Bem, J.D.
Lv, X.
Lauto, A.
Sliow, A.
Ma, Z.
Mahns, D.A.
Berryman, C.
Hutchinson, M.R.
Fumeaux, C.
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Advisors
Journal Title
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Journal article
Citation
Bioelectromagnetics, 2023; 44(7-8):181-191
Statement of Responsibility
Luke A. Smith, Jaedon D. Bem, Xiaojing Lv, Antonio Lauto, Ashour Sliow, Zhiyuan Ma, David A. Mahns, Carolyn Berryman, Mark R. Hutchinson, Christophe Fumeaux, Giuseppe C. Tettamanzi
Conference Name
Abstract
Electric‐field stimulation of neuronal activity can be used to improve the speed of regeneration for severed and damaged nerves. Most techniques, however, require invasive electronic circuitry which can be uncomfortable for the patient and can damage surrounding tissue. A recently suggested technique uses a graft‐antenna—a metal ring wrapped around the damaged nerve—powered by an external magnetic stimulation device. This technique requires no electrodes and internal circuitry with leads across the skin boundary or internal power, since all power is provided wirelessly. This paper examines the microscopic basic mechanisms that allow the magnetic stimulation device to cause neural activation via the graft‐antenna. A computational model of the system was created and used to find that under magnetic stimulation, diverging electric fields appear at the metal ring's edges. If the magnetic stimulation is sufficient, the gradients of these fields can trigger neural activation in the nerve. In‐vivo measurements were also performed on rat sciatic nerves to support the modeling finding that direct contact between the antenna and the nerve ensures neural activation given sufficient magnetic stimulation. Simulations also showed that the presence of a thin gap between the graft‐antenna and the nerve does not preclude neural activation but does reduce its efficacy.
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First published: 01 November 2023
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© 2023 The Authors. Bioelectromagnetics published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Bioelectromagnetics Society. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.