Instrumentation to record evoked potentials for closed-loop control of deep brain stimulation

Closed-loop deep brain stimulation (DBS) systems offer promise in relieving the clinical burden of stimulus parameter selection and improving treatment outcomes. In such a system, a feedback signal is used to adjust automatically stimulation parameters and optimize the efficacy of stimulation. We explored the feasibility of recording electrically evoked compound action potentials (ECAPs) during DBS for use as a feedback control signal. A novel instrumentation system was developed to suppress the stimulus artifact and amplify the small magnitude, short latency ECAP response during DBS with clinically relevant parameters. In vitro testing demonstrated the capabilities to increase the gain by a factor of 1,000× over a conventional amplifier without saturation, reduce distortion of mock ECAP signals, and make high fidelity recordings of mock ECAPs at latencies of only 0.5 ms following DBS pulses of 50 to 100 μs duration. Subsequently, the instrumentation was used to make in vivo recordings of ECAPs during thalamic DBS in cats, without contamination by the stimulus artifact. The signal characteristics were similar across three experiments, suggesting common neural activation patterns. The ECAP recordings enabled with this novel instrumentation may provide insight into the type and spatial extent of neural elements activated during DBS, and could serve as feedback control signals for closed-loop systems.

[1]  A. Benabid,et al.  The impact on Parkinson’s disease of electrical parameter settings in STN stimulation , 2002, Neurology.

[2]  A. Levey,et al.  Implanted neural electrodes cause chronic, local inflammation that is correlated with local neurodegeneration , 2009, Journal of neural engineering.

[3]  B. Widrow,et al.  On the Nature and Elimination of Stimulus Artifact in Nerve Signals Evoked and Recorded Using Surface Electrodes , 1982, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[4]  A. Benabid,et al.  Long-term suppression of tremor by chronic stimulation of the ventral intermediate thalamic nucleus , 1991, The Lancet.

[5]  J. Volkmann,et al.  Introduction to the programming of deep brain stimulators , 2002, Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society.

[6]  Peter Brown,et al.  Basal ganglia local field potential activity: Character and functional significance in the human , 2005, Clinical Neurophysiology.

[7]  Ray S. Snider,et al.  A stereotaxic atlas of the cat brain , 1987 .

[8]  M. Clyde,et al.  Clinical response to varying the stimulus parameters in deep brain stimulation for essential tremor , 2006, Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society.

[9]  Warren M. Grill,et al.  Selection of stimulus parameters for deep brain stimulation , 2004, Clinical Neurophysiology.

[10]  J. Vitek,et al.  Stimulation of the Subthalamic Nucleus Changes the Firing Pattern of Pallidal Neurons , 2003, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[11]  W. Ondo,et al.  The North American Survey of Placement and Adjustment Strategies for Deep Brain Stimulation , 2005, Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery.

[12]  W. Grill,et al.  Amplitude- and Frequency-Dependent Changes in Neuronal Regularity Parallel Changes in Tremor With Thalamic Deep Brain Stimulation , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering.

[13]  T. P. S. Powell.  The Thalamus and Basal Telencephalon of the Cat. A Cytoarchitectonic Atlas with Stereotaxic Coordinates , 1986 .

[14]  A. Benabid,et al.  Acute and long-term effects of subthalamic nucleus stimulation in Parkinson's disease. , 1994, Stereotactic and functional neurosurgery.

[15]  Warren M. Grill,et al.  Selective Microstimulation of Central Nervous System Neurons , 2000, Annals of Biomedical Engineering.

[16]  A. Priori,et al.  An electronic device for artefact suppression in human local field potential recordings during deep brain stimulation , 2007, Journal of neural engineering.

[17]  Warren M. Grill,et al.  Extracellular excitation of central neurons: implications for the mechanisms of deep brain stimulation , 2001 .

[18]  D. Tolhurst,et al.  The thalamus and basal telencephalon of the cat by A.L. Berman and E.G. Jones, University of Wisconsin Press, 1982. £162.50 (xvi + 156 pages) ISBN 299 08440 X , 1982, Trends in Neurosciences.