title: Functional regeneration of severed peripheral nerve using an implantable electrical stimulator.
abstract: This paper presents functional regeneration of severed peripheral nerve using a polymer-based implantable electrical stimulator. A polyimide based conduit electrode was made by micro-fabrication and a stimulation chip was designed to generate biphasic current pulse for electrical stimulation. The stimulation chip was packaged with a battery using silicone elastomer, and integrated with the electrode. The implantable electrical stimulator was implanted in the rat sciatic nerve with 7 mm gap. The electrical stimulation was applied for periods of one, two and four weeks between the proximal and the distal nerve stumps. After four weeks of post-operations, the degree of regeneration was evaluated through walking track assessments and by measuring neural response of the regenerated nerve. Based on these results, electrical stimulation, especially for two weeks of stimulation, could accelerate functional regeneration of the severed nerve.
authors.affiliation: School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Seoul National University, Republic of Korea. leeth386@gmail.com
authors.forename: Tae Hyung
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: In Sook
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Soon Jung
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: Sung June
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D011211:Electric Power Supplies; D004599:Electric Stimulation Therapy / Q000295:instrumentation*; D009416:Nerve Regeneration; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D051381:Rats; D020127:Recovery of Function; D020426:Sciatic Neuropathy / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*