Electrical Stimulation of Vocal Fold Adduction Triggered by Laryngeal Electromyography Using a Custom Implant.

Purpose: Medialization procedures for unilateral vocal fold (VF) paralysis generally improve voice but do not fully replace dynamic VF adduction. Paralyzed VFs typically experience synkinetic reinnervation, which makes it feasible to elicit movement through electrical stimulation. We tested a novel laryngeal pacing implant capable of providing closed-loop (automatic) stimulation of a VF triggered by electromyography (EMG) potentials from the contralateral VF.

Development of a Closed-Loop Stimulator for Laryngeal Reanimation: Part 2. Device Testing in the Canine Model of Laryngeal Paralysis.

Objective:: Laryngeal paralysis of central or peripheral origin can potentially be treated using functional electrical stimulation (FES) of laryngeal muscles. Experiments in canines (dogs) were performed using implant prototypes capable of closed-loop FES to refine engineering designs and specifications, test surgical approaches for implantation, and better understand the in vivo effects of laryngeal muscle stimulation on short- and long-term glottic function.

Study Design:: Prospective, laboratory.

Development of a Closed-Loop Stimulator for Laryngeal Reanimation, Part 1: Devices.

Objective:: The goal of this work was to create implantable stimulator systems that could be used in animal experiments on laryngeal paralysis, including "closed-loop" stimulation of impaired muscles triggered by electromyographic (EMG) potentials from healthy muscles.

Study Design:: Iterative device design and testing.

Methods:: A series of microcontroller-based implantable devices were built that incorporated increasingly sophisticated features for stimulation, EMG recording, and communication across the skin.

Wireless stimulation of antennal muscles in freely flying hawkmoths leads to flight path changes.

Insect antennae are sensory organs involved in a variety of behaviors, sensing many different stimulus modalities. As mechanosensors, they are crucial for flight control in the hawkmoth Manduca sexta. One of their roles is to mediate compensatory reflexes of the abdomen in response to rotations of the body in the pitch axis.

Insect-machine interface: a carbon nanotube-enhanced flexible neural probe.

We developed microfabricated flexible neural probes (FNPs) to provide a bi-directional electrical link to the moth Manduca sexta. These FNPs can deliver electrical stimuli to, and capture neural activity from, the insect's central nervous system. They are comprised of two layers of polyimide with gold sandwiched in between in a split-ring geometry that incorporates the bi-cylindrical anatomical structure of the insect's ventral nerve cord.

Design of a visible-light spectroscopy clinical tissue oximeter.

We develop a clinical visible-light spectroscopy (VLS) tissue oximeter. Unlike currently approved near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) or pulse oximetry (SpO2%), VLS relies on locally absorbed, shallow-penetrating visible light (475 to 625 nm) for the monitoring of microvascular hemoglobin oxygen saturation (StO2%), allowing incorporation into therapeutic catheters and probes. A range of probes is developed, including noncontact wands, invasive catheters, and penetrating needles with injection ports.

Front-tracking image reconstruction algorithm for EIT-monitored cryosurgery using the boundary element method.

The effectiveness of cryosurgery, treatment of tumors by freezing, is highly dependent on knowledge of transient freezing extent, and therefore relies heavily on real-time imaging techniques for monitoring. Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) holds much promise for this application. In cryosurgery there is a three order of magnitude change in impedance across the freezing boundary and there is a priori knowledge of the freezing origin.

Electrical impedance tomography for imaging tissue electroporation.

Electroporation is a method to introduce molecules, such as gene constructs or small drugs, into cells by temporarily permeating the cell membrane with electric pulses. In molecular medicine and biotechnology, tissue electroporation is performed with electrodes placed in the target area of the body. Currently, tissue electroporation, as with all other methods of molecular medicine, is performed without real-time control or near-term information regarding the extent and degree of electroporation.

Distributed network imaging and electrical impedance tomography of minimally invasive surgery.

Minimally invasive surgery has become highly dependent on imaging. For instance, the effectiveness of cryosurgery in treating cancer is dependent on knowledge of freezing extent, and relies on real-time imaging techniques for monitoring. However, medical imaging is often very expensive and therefore not available to most of the world population.

A feasibility study for electrical impedance tomography as a means to monitor tissue electroporation for molecular medicine.

Molecular medicine involves the introduction of macromolecules, such as drugs or gene constructs, into specific cells of the body. Electroporation, which uses electric pulses to permeate cell membranes, is a method for achieving this. However, as with other molecular medicine procedures, it lacks a real-time mechanism to detect and control which cells have been affected.