title: Needle stylet with integrated optical fibers for spectroscopic contrast during peripheral nerve blocks.
abstract: The effectiveness of peripheral nerve blocks is highly dependent on the accuracy at which the needle tip is navigated to the target injection site. Even when electrical stimulation is utilized in combination with ultrasound guidance, determining the proximity of the needle tip to the target region close to the nerve can be challenging. Optical reflectance spectroscopy could provide additional information about tissues that is complementary to these navigation methods. We demonstrate a novel needle stylet for acquiring spectra from tissue at the tip of a commercial 20-gauge needle. The stylet has integrated optical fibers that deliver broadband light to tissue and receive scattered light. Two spectrometers resolve the light that is received from tissue across the wavelength range of 500-1600 nm. In our pilot study, measurements are acquired from a postmortem dissection of the brachial plexus of a swine. Clear differences are observed between spectra acquired from nerves and those acquired from adjacent tissue structures. We conclude that spectra acquired with the stylet have the potential to increase the accuracy with which peripheral nerve blocks are performed.
authors.affiliation: Philips Research, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Adrien E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Desjardins
authors.forename: Marjolein
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van der Voort
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Roggeveen
authors.forename: Gerald
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lucassen
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Bierhoff
authors.forename: Benno H W
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Hendriks
authors.forename: Marcus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brynolf
authors.forename: Björn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Holmström
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D001917:Brachial Plexus / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D009407:Nerve Block; D055100:Optical Fibers; D055620:Optical Phenomena; D010525:Peripheral Nerves / Q000502:physiology; D010865:Pilot Projects; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D013057:Spectrum Analysis / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D034421:Sus scrofa; D013594:Syringes