neuroBi: A Highly Configurable Neurostimulator for a Retinal Prosthesis and Other Applications.

To evaluate the efficacy of a suprachoroidal retinal prosthesis, a highly configurable external neurostimulator is required. In order to meet functional and safety specifications, it was necessary to develop a custom device. A system is presented which can deliver charge-balanced, constant-current biphasic pulses, with widely adjustable parameters, to arbitrary configurations of output electrodes.

Compressive follower load influences cervical spine kinematics and kinetics during simulated head-first impact in an in vitro model.

Current understanding of the biomechanics of cervical spine injuries in head-first impact is based on decades of epidemiology, mathematical models, and in vitro experimental studies. Recent mathematical modeling suggests that muscle activation and muscle forces influence injury risk and mechanics in head-first impact. It is also known that muscle forces are central to the overall physiologic stability of the cervical spine.

Levetiracetam-loaded biodegradable polymer implants in the tetanus toxin model of temporal lobe epilepsy in rats.

Approximately one-third of people with epilepsy receive insufficient benefit from currently available anticonvulsant medication, and some evidence suggests that this may be due to a lack of effective penetration into brain parenchyma. The current study investigated the ability of biodegradable polymer implants loaded with levetiracetam to ameliorate seizures following implantation above the motor cortex in the tetanus toxin model of temporal lobe epilepsy in rats. The implants led to significantly shorter seizures and a trend towards fewer seizures for up to 1 week.

Probing for cortical excitability.

This paper introduces a new method for measuring cortical excitability using an electrical probing stimulus via intracranial electroencephalography (iEEG). Stimuli consisted of 100 single bi-phasic pulses, delivered every 10 minutes. Neural excitability is estimated by extracting a feature from the iEEG responses to the stimuli, which we dub the mean phase variance (PV).

Electrical probing of cortical excitability in patients with epilepsy.

Standard methods for seizure prediction involve passive monitoring of intracranial electroencephalography (iEEG) in order to track the 'state' of the brain. This paper introduces a new method for measuring cortical excitability using an electrical probing stimulus. Electrical probing enables feature extraction in a more robust and controlled manner compared to passively tracking features of iEEG signals.

In vivo biocompatibility and in vitro characterization of poly-lactide-co-glycolide structures containing levetiracetam, for the treatment of epilepsy.

Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder characterized by recurrent seizures, and is highly resistant to medication with up to 40% of patients continuing to experience seizures whilst taking oral antiepileptic drugs. Recent research suggests that this may be due to abnormalities in the blood-brain barrier, which prevent the passage of therapeutic substances into the brain. We sought to develop a drug delivery material that could be implanted within the brain at the origin of the seizures to release antiepileptic drugs locally and avoid the blood brain barrier.

Exploring the tolerability of spatiotemporally complex electrical stimulation paradigms.

A modified cortical stimulation model was used to investigate the effects of varying the synchronicity and periodicity of electrical stimuli delivered to multiple pairs of electrodes on seizure initiation. In this model, electrical stimulation of the motor cortex of rats, along four pairs of a microwire electrode array, results in an observable seizure with quantifiable electrographic duration and behavioural severity. Periodic stimuli had a constant inter-stimulus intervals across the two-second stimulus duration, whilst synchronous stimuli consisted of singular biphasic, bipolar pulses delivered to the four pairs of electrodes at precisely the same time for the entire two second stimulation period.

Closed-loop seizure control with very high frequency electrical stimulation at seizure onset in the GAERS model of absence epilepsy.

A closed-loop system for the automated detection and control of epileptic seizures was created and tested in three Genetic Absence Epilepsy Rats from Strasbourg (GAERS) rats. In this preliminary study, a set of four EEG features were used to detect seizures and three different electrical stimulation strategies (standard (130 Hz), very high (500 Hz) and ultra high (1000 Hz)) were delivered to terminate seizures. Seizure durations were significantly shorter with all three stimulation strategies when compared to non-stimulated (control) seizures.

Seizure severity and duration in the cortical stimulation model of experimental epilepsy in rats: a longitudinal study.

The aim of this study was to determine the current intensities necessary to elicit three levels of varying EEG and behavioural phenomena with electrical stimulation, and also to determine the consistency of the EEG and behavioural components of the triggered seizures over time. Electrical stimulation of the primary motor/somatosensory cortex was performed in 16 adult rats with multichannel microwire electrode arrays. Stimulation was delivered at a frequency of 60 Hz (1 ms pulse width), for 2 s duration, as biphasic rectangular pulses over four of the eight available electrode pairs.

The thalamocortical circuit and the generation of epileptic spikes in rat models of focal epilepsy.

We investigate thalamocortical interactions in the tetanus toxin and the cortical stimulation rat models of epilepsy. Using local field potential recordings from the cortex and the thalamus of the rat, the nonlinear regression index is calculated to create the direction index in order to study neurodynamics during seizures. Coarse time-scale analysis reveals that the cortex drives the thalamus for the majority of the time during seizures.