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Electroceuticals to replace drug therapy with the vagus nerve stimulation
Vagus nerve, as part of a parasympathetic system, regulates breathing and heart rate and makes a connection between internal organs and brain. Stimulating the vagus nerve could provide beneficial effects and replace the use of inefficient drug therapies. In order to define the most precise vagus ner
Background
Conventional drugs affects body functions via systemic circulation in a non-specific way leading to a number of side effects. Due to their short half-time in the blood, drugs need to be regularly administered to maintain their concentration in a defined and non-toxic range of action.
Nerve electrical stimulation has shown enviable results in regulating body mechanisms. The main concept is to deliver electrical impulses to specific neural fibers to modulate the function of the target organ and potentially treat any condition in a highly specific manner, avoiding adverse events.
The vagus/vagal nerve is so named because it “wanders” like a vagabond and transmits information to or from the surface of the brain to tissues and organs elsewhere in the body. It represents the main component of the parasympathetic nervous system, which oversees a vast array of crucial bodily functions, including control of mood, immune response, digestion, breathing and heart rate. It establishes one of the connections between the brain and the gastrointestinal tract and sends information about the state of the inner organs to the brain.
Vagus nerve stimulation has been approved by the FDA for treating drug-resistant epilepsy and depression. Yet, lot about its functional and topographical structure is unknown, which leads to unknown beneficial and side effects of vagal nerve stimulation.
The goal of our work is to construct computational model of vagus nerve using real morphological data in order to achieve highly selective stimulation of vagus nerve specific fibers and better understand its innervation mechanism.
Project description
The vagus nerve consists of both the afferent and efferent fibers and all fibers’ types. One of the main challenges in the clinical application of vagus nerve stimulation is to define which fibers should be activated in order to maximize the desired physiological effects of VNS, minimizing the side ones, and to find suitable electrode design and optimal stimulation paradigm for achieving it.
Since our previous studies on sensory nerve stimulation with amputees have shown huge benefits of computational nerve model in overcoming mentioned challenges, we believe that constructing hybrid electro-neuro model of vagus nerve will provide similar effects.
Background Conventional drugs affects body functions via systemic circulation in a non-specific way leading to a number of side effects. Due to their short half-time in the blood, drugs need to be regularly administered to maintain their concentration in a defined and non-toxic range of action. Nerve electrical stimulation has shown enviable results in regulating body mechanisms. The main concept is to deliver electrical impulses to specific neural fibers to modulate the function of the target organ and potentially treat any condition in a highly specific manner, avoiding adverse events. The vagus/vagal nerve is so named because it “wanders” like a vagabond and transmits information to or from the surface of the brain to tissues and organs elsewhere in the body. It represents the main component of the parasympathetic nervous system, which oversees a vast array of crucial bodily functions, including control of mood, immune response, digestion, breathing and heart rate. It establishes one of the connections between the brain and the gastrointestinal tract and sends information about the state of the inner organs to the brain. Vagus nerve stimulation has been approved by the FDA for treating drug-resistant epilepsy and depression. Yet, lot about its functional and topographical structure is unknown, which leads to unknown beneficial and side effects of vagal nerve stimulation.
The goal of our work is to construct computational model of vagus nerve using real morphological data in order to achieve highly selective stimulation of vagus nerve specific fibers and better understand its innervation mechanism.
Project description
The vagus nerve consists of both the afferent and efferent fibers and all fibers’ types. One of the main challenges in the clinical application of vagus nerve stimulation is to define which fibers should be activated in order to maximize the desired physiological effects of VNS, minimizing the side ones, and to find suitable electrode design and optimal stimulation paradigm for achieving it. Since our previous studies on sensory nerve stimulation with amputees have shown huge benefits of computational nerve model in overcoming mentioned challenges, we believe that constructing hybrid electro-neuro model of vagus nerve will provide similar effects.
The main aim of this master project is to implement the hybrid computational model of vagus nerve. It will be organized in several tasks:
1. Using real histological data from pig’s vagus nerve, anatomical 3D nerve model will be constructed using SolidWorks (SolidWorks Corp.), or similar software tool.
2. Constructed model will be imported in COMSOL (COMSOL Inc.), where electrical properties of the nerve model will be added. In this part of the project we will test different electrode design and stimulation paradigms and see how electric field is distributed across the nerve structure.
3. The result of electric field distribution will be processed using NEURON software. Different nerve fibers with unique spatial density in vagus nerve will be added to the model. This software tool enables us to see which fibers will be recruited, based on the electric field.
4. When the whole hybrid model is constructed (tasks 1, 2 and 3), tests for determining selectivity and sensitivity for each electrode and stimulation paradigm will be performed.
The final goal of this project is defining a new neural interface - optimal electrode design and stimulation paradigm that produces maximal selectivity and sensitivity for vagus nerve stimulation, which will then be manufactured and tested.
The main aim of this master project is to implement the hybrid computational model of vagus nerve. It will be organized in several tasks:
1. Using real histological data from pig’s vagus nerve, anatomical 3D nerve model will be constructed using SolidWorks (SolidWorks Corp.), or similar software tool. 2. Constructed model will be imported in COMSOL (COMSOL Inc.), where electrical properties of the nerve model will be added. In this part of the project we will test different electrode design and stimulation paradigms and see how electric field is distributed across the nerve structure. 3. The result of electric field distribution will be processed using NEURON software. Different nerve fibers with unique spatial density in vagus nerve will be added to the model. This software tool enables us to see which fibers will be recruited, based on the electric field. 4. When the whole hybrid model is constructed (tasks 1, 2 and 3), tests for determining selectivity and sensitivity for each electrode and stimulation paradigm will be performed.
The final goal of this project is defining a new neural interface - optimal electrode design and stimulation paradigm that produces maximal selectivity and sensitivity for vagus nerve stimulation, which will then be manufactured and tested.
Dr. Stanisa Raspopovic, Assistant Professor
Neuroeengineering laboratory, Head
ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Email: stanisa.raspopovic@hest.ethz.ch
Natalija Katic, PhD student
natnatkatic@gmail.com
Dr. Stanisa Raspopovic, Assistant Professor Neuroeengineering laboratory, Head ETH Zurich, Switzerland Email: stanisa.raspopovic@hest.ethz.ch Natalija Katic, PhD student natnatkatic@gmail.com