Electrochemical activation and inhibition of neuromuscular systems through modulation of ion concentrations with ion-selective membranes
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Han_Electrochemical activation.pdf
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1.58 MB
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e803008366492f213b564125940fa1e2
Author(s)
Song, Yong-Ak
Melik, Rohat
Rabie, Amr N.
Ibrahim, Ahmed M. S.
Moses, David
Tan, Ara
Han, Jongyoon
Lin, Samuel J.
Date Issued
October 2011
Journal
Nature Materials
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
Citation
Song, Yong-Ak et al. “Electrochemical Activation and Inhibition of Neuromuscular Systems Through Modulation of Ion Concentrations with Ion-selective Membranes.” Nature Materials 10.12 (2011): 980–986.
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
Conventional functional electrical stimulation aims to restore functional motor activity of patients with disabilities resulting from spinal cord injury or neurological disorders. However, intervention with functional electrical stimulation in neurological diseases lacks an effective implantable method that suppresses unwanted nerve signals. We have developed an electrochemical method to activate and inhibit a nerve by electrically modulating ion concentrations in situ along the nerve. Using ion-selective membranes to achieve different excitability states of the nerve, we observe either a reduction of the electrical threshold for stimulation by up to approximately 40%, or voluntary, reversible inhibition of nerve signal propagation. This low-threshold electrochemical stimulation method is applicable in current implantable neuroprosthetic devices, whereas the on-demand nerve-blocking mechanism could offer effective clinical intervention in disease states caused by uncontrolled nerve activation, such as epilepsy and chronic pain syndromes.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
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Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3146
