In-Silico Ear Model Based on Episcopic Images for Percutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation

Dabiri, Babak; Kampusch, Stefan; Geyer, Stefan H.; Le, Van Hoang; Thurk, Florian; Brenner, Simon; Széles, József Constantin; Weninger, Wolfgang J.; Kaniušas, Eugenijus

doi:10.23919/emf-med.2018.8526013

Cited by 7 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…In fact, aVN fibers and their bundles are too thin – in the submillimetre range (<100 μm), see Figure 2C – to be recognized visually by the unaided applicant’s eye. We have proposed (Kaniusas et al, 2011) to find these fibers based on the associated auricular blood vessels (Alvord and Farmer, 1998; Tilotta et al, 2008) since fibers and blood vessels are wired together, often alongside one another (Carmeliet and Tessier-Lavigne, 2005), even in the auricle (Razlighi et al, 2018). Figure 2B,C illustrate the joint proliferation of auricular vessels and nerves – based on episcopic images – with a separation distance of up to about 200 μm in this example.…”

Section: Electrical Stimulation Of Vnmentioning

confidence: 99%

Current Directions in the Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation II – An Engineering Perspective

et al. 2019

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Electrical stimulation of the auricular vagus nerve (aVNS) is an emerging electroceutical technology in the field of bioelectronic medicine with applications in therapy. Artificial modulation of the afferent vagus nerve – a powerful entrance to the brain – affects a large number of physiological processes implicating interactions between the brain and body. Engineering aspects of aVNS determine its efficiency in application. The relevant safety and regulatory issues need to be appropriately addressed. In particular, in silico modeling acts as a tool for aVNS optimization. The evolution of personalized electroceuticals using novel architectures of the closed-loop aVNS paradigms with biofeedback can be expected to optimally meet therapy needs. For the first time, two international workshops on aVNS have been held in Warsaw and Vienna in 2017 within the scope of EU COST Action “European network for innovative uses of EMFs in biomedical applications (BM1309).” Both workshops focused critically on the driving physiological mechanisms of aVNS, its experimental and clinical studies in animals and humans, in silico aVNS studies, technological advancements, and regulatory barriers. The results of the workshops are covered in two reviews, covering physiological and engineering aspects. The present review summarizes on engineering aspects – a discussion of physiological aspects is provided by our accompanying article ( Kaniusas et al., 2019 ). Both reviews build a reasonable bridge from the rationale of aVNS as a therapeutic tool to current research lines, all of them being highly relevant for the promising aVNS technology to reach the patient.

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Section: Electrical Stimulation Of Vnmentioning

confidence: 99%

Current Directions in the Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation II – An Engineering Perspective

et al. 2019

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“…2). The resulting distribution of the electric field considered the particular anatomy of the ear and the heterogeneity of local electrical properties -especially of the electrical conductivity -of the auricular tissue due to embedded blood vessels but without auricular nerves [40] ( Fig. 1b).…”

Section: B Numerical Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1b). Branches and sub-branches of this modelled nerve are running alongside blood vessels since fibers and vessels are usually wired together, often alongside one another [44], even in the auricle [7], [40]. Nerves are modelled as bundles of fibers with a physical volume (given by the fiber diameter, see below) and conductivity (of 1 S/m [32]).…”

Section: B Numerical Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Stimulation Pattern Efficiency in Percutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation: Experimental versus Numerical data

Kaniušas

Samoudi

Kampusch

et al. 2019

IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng.

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Percutaneous electrical stimulation of the auricular vagus nerve (pVNS) is an electroceutical technology. The selection of stimulation patterns is empirical, which may lead to under-stimulation or over-stimulation. The objective is to assess the efficiency of different stimulation patterns with respect to individual perception and to compare it with numerical data based on in-silico ear models. Methods: Monophasic (MS), biphasic (BS) and triphasic stimulation (TS) patterns were tested in volunteers. Different clinically-relevant perception levels were assessed. In-silico models of the human ear were created with embedded fibers and vessels to assess different excitation levels. Results: TS indicates experimental superiority over BS which is superior to MS while reaching different perception levels. TS requires about 57% and 35% of BS and MS magnitude, respectively, to reach the comfortable perception. Experimental thresholds decrease from non-bursted to bursted stimulation. Numerical results indicate a slight superiority of BS and TS over MS while reaching different excitation levels, whereas the burst length has no influence. TS yields the highest number of asynchronous action impulses per stimulation symbol for the used tripolar electrode setup. Conclusion: The comparison of experimental and numerical data favors the novel TS pattern. The analysis separates excitatory pVNS effects in the auricular periphery, as accounted by in-silico data, from the combination of peripheral and central pVNS effects in the brain, as accounted by experimental data. Significance: The proposed approach moves from an empirical selection of stimulation patterns towards efficient and optimized pVNS settings.

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“…Published data does exist for the pig and the mouse, in which vascularisation in wound healing was researched [97,98], and for humans. In humans, HREM was successfully employed to develop a novel concept for dermal vascularisation in thick [99,100] and thin skin [101] and to analyse the topology of arteries and nerves in the auricle [102]. Besides this, it recently permitted the characterisation of plaques in the coronary arteries [103].…”

Section: Conclusion and Further Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-Resolution Episcopic Microscopy (HREM): Looking Back on 13 Years of Successful Generation of Digital Volume Data of Organic Material for 3D Visualisation and 3D Display

Geyer

Weninger

2019

Applied Sciences

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High-resolution episcopic microscopy (HREM) is an imaging technique that permits the simple and rapid generation of three-dimensional (3D) digital volume data of histologically embedded and physically sectioned specimens. The data can be immediately used for high-detail 3D analysis of a broad variety of organic materials with all modern methods of 3D visualisation and display. Since its first description in 2006, HREM has been adopted as a method for exploring organic specimens in many fields of science, and it has recruited a slowly but steadily growing user community. This review aims to briefly introduce the basic principles of HREM data generation and to provide an overview of scientific publications that have been published in the last 13 years involving HREM imaging. The studies to which we refer describe technical details and specimen-specific protocols, and provide examples of the successful use of HREM in biological, biomedical and medical research. Finally, the limitations, potentials and anticipated further improvements are briefly outlined.

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In-Silico Ear Model Based on Episcopic Images for Percutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation

Cited by 7 publications

References 7 publications

Current Directions in the Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation II – An Engineering Perspective

Current Directions in the Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation II – An Engineering Perspective

Stimulation Pattern Efficiency in Percutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation: Experimental versus Numerical data

High-Resolution Episcopic Microscopy (HREM): Looking Back on 13 Years of Successful Generation of Digital Volume Data of Organic Material for 3D Visualisation and 3D Display

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