title: Functional imaging of spinal cord electrical activity from its evoked magnetic field.
abstract: This paper investigates dynamic source imaging of the spinal cord electrophysiological activity from its evoked magnetic field by applying the spatial filter version of standardized low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (sLORETA). Our computer simulation shows that the sLORETA-based spatial filter can reconstruct the four current sources typically associated with the elicitation of the spinal cord evoked magnetic field (SCEF). The results from animal experiments show that significant changes in the latency and intensity of the reconstructed volume current arise near the location of the artificial incomplete conduction block. The results from the human SCEF show that the SCEF source imaging can visualize the dynamics of the volume currents and other nerve electrical activity propagating along the human spinal cord. These experimental results demonstrate the potential of SCEF source imaging as a future clinical tool for diagnosing cervical spinal cord disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Systems Design and Engineering, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo 191-0065, Japan. sato.tomoya.ieee@gmail.com
authors.forename: Tomoya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Yoshiaki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Adachi
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tomori
authors.forename: Senichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ishii
authors.forename: Shigenori
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kawabata
authors.forename: Kensuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sekihara
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008954:Models, Biological; D011817:Rabbits; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000502:physiology*; D014054:Tomography / Q000379:methods*