Sensing and Decoding Neural Signals for Closed-Loop Neuromodulation and Advanced Diagnostics in Chronic Disease and Injury

Computational modelling of nerve stimulation and recording with peripheral visceral neural interfaces

Objective.Neuromodulation of visceral nerves is being intensively studied for treating a wide range of conditions, but effective translation requires increasing the efficacy and predictability of neural interface performance. Here we use computational models of rat visceral nerve to predict how neuroanatomical variability could affect both electrical stimulation and recording with an experimental planar neural interface.Approach.We developed a hybrid computational pipeline,VisceralNerveEnsembleRecording andStimulation (ViNERS), to couple finite-element modelling of extracellular electrical fields with biophysical simulations of individual axons. Anatomical properties of fascicles and axons in rat pelvic and vagus nerves were measured or obtained from public datasets. To validate ViNERS, we simulated pelvic nerve stimulation and recording with an experimental four-electrode planar array.Main results.Axon diameters measured from pelvic nerve were used to model a population of myelinated and unmyelinated axons and simulate recordings of electrically evoked single-unit field potentials (SUFPs). Across visceral nerve fascicles of increasing size, our simulations predicted an increase in stimulation threshold and a decrease in SUFP amplitude. Simulated threshold changes were dominated by changes in perineurium thickness, which correlates with fascicle diameter. We also demonstrated that ViNERS could simulate recordings of electrically-evoked compound action potentials (ECAPs) that were qualitatively similar to pelvic nerve recording made with the array used for simulation.Significance.We introduce ViNERS as a new open-source computational tool for modelling large-scale stimulation and recording from visceral nerves. ViNERS predicts how neuroanatomical variation in rat pelvic nerve affects stimulation and recording with an experimental planar electrode array. We show ViNERS can simulate ECAPS that capture features of our recordings, but our results suggest the underlying NEURON models need to be further refined and specifically adapted to accurately simulate visceral nerve axons.

Recording of Electrically Evoked Neural Activity and Bladder Pressure Responses in Awake Rats Chronically Implanted With a Pelvic Nerve Array

Bioelectronic medical devices are well established and widely used in the treatment of urological dysfunction. Approved targets include the sacral S3 spinal root and posterior tibial nerve, but an alternate target is the group of pelvic splanchnic nerves, as these contain sacral visceral sensory and autonomic motor pathways that coordinate storage and voiding functions of the bladder. Here, we developed a device suitable for long-term use in an awake rat model to study electrical neuromodulation of the pelvic nerve (homolog of the human pelvic splanchnic nerves). In male Sprague-Dawley rats, custom planar four-electrode arrays were implanted over the distal end of the pelvic nerve, close to the major pelvic ganglion. Electrically evoked compound action potentials (ECAPs) were reliably detected under anesthesia and in chronically implanted, awake rats up to 8 weeks post-surgery. ECAP waveforms showed three peaks, with latencies that suggested electrical stimulation activated several subpopulations of myelinated A-fiber and unmyelinated C-fiber axons. Chronic implantation of the array did not impact on voiding evoked in awake rats by continuous cystometry, where void parameters were comparable to those published in naïve rats. Electrical stimulation with chronically implanted arrays also induced two classes of bladder pressure responses detected by continuous flow cystometry in awake rats: voiding contractions and non-voiding contractions. No evidence of tissue pathology produced by chronically implanted arrays was detected by immunohistochemical visualization of markers for neuronal injury or noxious spinal cord activation. These results demonstrate a rat pelvic nerve electrode array that can be used for preclinical development of closed loop neuromodulation devices targeting the pelvic nerve as a therapy for neuro-urological dysfunction.