A Brain-Machine-Muscle Interface for Restoring Hindlimb Locomotion after Complete Spinal Transection in Rats
A Brain-Machine-Muscle Interface for Restoring Hindlimb Locomotion after Complete Spinal Transection in Rats
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DOI：
10.1371/journal.pone.0103764
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发表时间：
2014-08-01
期刊：
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
He, Jufang
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Alam, Monzurul;Chen, Xi;He, Jufang
脑机接口（BMI）是一种神经假体设备，可以恢复瘫痪患者的运动功能。虽然上肢神经假体的BMI控制的可行性已被证明，一个BMI的下肢运动功能的恢复尚未开发。本研究的目的是确定步态相关的信息是否可以从大鼠的初级运动皮层记录的神经活动中捕获，以及这种神经信息是否可以用于刺激完全脊髓横断后瘫痪的后肢肌肉。记录6只雌性Sprague道利大鼠在中胸横断前后跑步机运动时后肢初级运动皮层的神经活动。在脊髓横断之前，神经活动和步周期之间存在很强的关联。脊髓横断后这种关联性降低。然而，运动状态（站立与行走）仍然可以从脊髓横断后的神经记录中成功解码。一种新型的BMI设备被开发出来，它可以实时处理这些神经信息，并用它来控制瘫痪后肢肌肉的电刺激。该系统能够引起模仿前肢踏步的后肢肌肉收缩。我们建议将这种下肢BMI作为未来人类截瘫患者的神经假体。
A brain-machine interface (BMI) is a neuroprosthetic device that can restore motor function of individuals with paralysis. Although the feasibility of BMI control of upper-limb neuroprostheses has been demonstrated, a BMI for the restoration of lower-limb motor functions has not yet been developed. The objective of this study was to determine if gait-related information can be captured from neural activity recorded from the primary motor cortex of rats, and if this neural information can be used to stimulate paralysed hindlimb muscles after complete spinal cord transection. Neural activity was recorded from the hindlimb area of the primary motor cortex of six female Sprague Dawley rats during treadmill locomotion before and after mid-thoracic transection. Before spinal transection there was a strong association between neural activity and the step cycle. This association decreased after spinal transection. However, the locomotive state (standing vs. walking) could still be successfully decoded from neural recordings made after spinal transection. A novel BMI device was developed that processed this neural information in real-time and used it to control electrical stimulation of paralysed hindlimb muscles. This system was able to elicit hindlimb muscle contractions that mimicked forelimb stepping. We propose this lower-limb BMI as a future neuroprosthesis for human paraplegics.