Long-term functionality of transversal intraneural electrodes is improved by dexamethasone treatment
de la Oliva, Natalia (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Neurociències)
Del Valle, Jaume (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Neurociències)
Delgado Martínez, Ignacio (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Neurociències)
Mueller, Matthias (Albert Ludwig University Freiburg. Laboratory for Biomedical Microtechnology)
Stieglitz, Thomas (Albert Ludwig University Freiburg. Laboratory for Biomedical Microtechnology)
Navarro, X. (Xavier) (Xavier) (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Neurociències)
Institut Català de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia (ICN2)

Date:	2019
Abstract:	Neuroprostheses aimed to restore lost functions after a limb amputation are based on the interaction with the nervous system by means of neural interfaces. Among the different designs, intraneural electrodes implanted in peripheral nerves represent a good strategy to stimulate nerve fibers to send sensory feedback and to record nerve signals to control the prosthetic limb. However, intraneural electrodes, as any device implanted in the body, induce a foreign body reaction (FBR) that results in the tissue encapsulation of the device. The FBR causes a progressive decline of the electrode functionality over time due to the physical separation between the electrode active sites and the axons to interface. Modulation of the inflammatory response has arisen as a good strategy to reduce the FBR and maintain electrode functionality. In this study transversal intraneural multi-channel electrodes (TIMEs) were implanted in the rat sciatic nerve and tested for 3 months to evaluate stimulation and recording capabilities under chronic administration of dexamethasone. Dexamethasone treatment significantly reduced the threshold for evoking muscle responses during the follow-up compared to saline-treated animals, without affecting the selectivity of stimulation. However, dexamethasone treatment did not improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the recorded neural signals. Dexamethasone treatment allowed to maintain more working active sites along time than saline treatment. Thus, systemic administration of dexamethasone appears as a useful treatment in chronically implanted animals with neural electrodes as it increases the number of functioning contacts of the implanted TIME and reduces the intensity needed to stimulate the nerve.
Grants:	European Commission 611687 European Commission 602547 European Commission 785219 Instituto de Salud Carlos III TERCEL/RD12/0019/0011 Instituto de Salud Carlos III CIBERNED/CB06/05/1105 Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad SEV-2013-0295
Note:	Altres ajuts: Fundación Ramón Areces (CIVP18A3897)i CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya.
Rights:	Tots els drets reservats.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió acceptada per publicar
Subject:	Dexamethasone ; Foreign body reaction ; Intraneural electrode ; Neuroprosthesis ; Stimulation
Published in:	IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, 2019 , ISSN 1534-4320

DOI: 10.1109/TNSRE.2019.2897256
PMID: 30716042

Postprint 9 p, 973.4 KB

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2)
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Health sciences and biosciences > Institut de Neurociències (INc)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles