Sensory Nerve Stimulation with Implantable Sieve Electrodes for the Artificial Sensation.

我们已经开发了用于脑-机接口（BMI）的植入式筛电极，以前用于记录外周神经纤维的动作电位，用其控制人造机器，如假手。在这项研究中，我们证明，筛电极也成功地作为刺激电极，以引起人工感觉大鼠。将这些电极植入大鼠鼓索神经或耳后神经。通过植入耳后神经的电极的电刺激经常引起快速的耳廓运动，类似于在正常大鼠耳廓上通过短暂的喷气刺激引起的耳廓反射。这些耳廓运动的结论是，他们引起的耳后肌，但由于感觉反射的耳后神经兴奋的直接刺激。铱被涂覆在电极上以通过在表面上形成氧化物来增加它们的电流通过能力。在大多数情况下，使用筛状电极的电刺激效果会持续数月，除非电极头帽或电极丝意外断裂。最长的记录期约为7个月。这些结果表明，筛电极是有用的人工感觉接口。

We have developed the implantable sieve electrodes for the Brain-Machine Interface (BMI), previously for the purpose of recording action potentials from peripheral nerve fibers, with witch to control artificial machines such as an artificial hand. In this study we demonstrated that the sieve electrodes also successfully worked as stimulation electrodes to elicit artificial sensation on rats. These electrodes were implanted in rat chorda tympani nerves or posterior auricular nerves. Electrical stimulations through electrodes implanted in posterior auricular nerves often caused quick pinna-movements similar to the pinna reflex caused by brief air-puff stimulation on a pinna in normal rats. These pinna-movements were concluded that they were elicited not due to direct stimulations of posterior auricular muscles but due to sensory reflex to excitations of posterior auricular nerves. Iridium was coated on the electrodes to increase their current passage capabilities through formation of an oxide on the surface. In most cases, effects of electrical stimulations with a sieve electrode continued for several months unless accidentally the head cap or the wire of the electrode was broken. The longest case of recordable periods was about seven month. These results indicate the sieve electrodes are useful to the interface for the artificial sensation.