title: Pulsatile spinal cord surrogate for intradural neuromodulation studies.
abstract: We have designed, built and tested a novel spinal cord surrogate that mimics the low-amplitude cardiac-driven pulsations of the human spinal cord, for use in developing intradural implants to be used in a novel form of neuromodulation for the treatment of intractable pain and motor system dysfunction. The silicone surrogate has an oval cross section, 10 mm major axis × 6 mm minor axis, and incorporates a 3 mm diameter × 3 cm long angioplasty balloon that serves as the pulsation actuator. When pneumatically driven at 1 Hz and 1.5 atmospheres (≈ 1140 mm Hg), the surrogate's diametric pulsation is ≈ 100 μm, which corresponds well to in vivo observations. The applications for this surrogate are presented and discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, 200 Hawkins Drive, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Howard
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Rossen
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Brennan
authors.forename: B D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Dalm
authors.forename: N S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Dahdaleh
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Utz
authors.forename: G T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Gillies
mesh_terms: D004599:Electric Stimulation Therapy / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004567:Electrodes, Implanted; D004867:Equipment Design; D010148:Intractable Pain / Q000628:therapy; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000502:physiology*