Paced breathing and respiratory movement responses evoked by bidirectional constant current stimulation in anesthetized rabbits

Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 2023 · DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2022.1109892 · Published: January 12, 2023

Simple Explanation

Diaphragm pacing (DP) is a respiratory assist therapy for patients with central alveolar hypoventilation and high cervical spinal cord injury. This study developed a DP system using bidirectional constant-current stimulation and evaluated its reliability through hardware testing and animal experiments. The effects of stimulus amplitudes and frequencies on airflow and inspired volume were investigated, and diaphragm fatigue was assessed.

Study Duration

80 minutes

Participants

10 adult New Zealand white rabbits

Evidence Level

Not specified

Key Findings

1
The increase of stimulus frequency and amplitude in animals resulted in different degrees of increase in envoked volume.
2
Significant difference in Airflow Index (b) between anesthesia and DP provided a simple, non-invasive and feasible solution for phrenic nerve conduction function test.
3
Increased stimulation duration with the developed DP system caused less diaphragm fatigue.

Research Summary

This study developed a cost-effective and reliable diaphragm pacing (DP) system using bidirectional constant current stimulation for respiratory assistance. The effectiveness of the developed DP system was confirmed through animal experiments, demonstrating its ability to evoke respiratory activity and minimize diaphragm fatigue. The study also introduced Airflow Index as a non-invasive method for assessing phrenic nerve conduction function, providing a potential solution for monitoring DP performance.

Practical Implications

Future Implantable Pacemakers

The study findings are useful for designing future implantable diaphragmatic pacemakers.

Respiratory Activity Assessment

The research contributes to convenient assessment of respiratory activity in experiments.

Diaphragm Fatigue Improvement

The bidirectional stimulation may help in improving diaphragm fatigue in DP applications.

Study Limitations

1
The stimulator needs to be fully implanted in the body.
2
The wireless power supply module should be introduced on the basis of the hardware design of this research in future.
3
Exploring effects of multiple different waveforms on respiratory activity should also be the focus of future research.

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