Anode-break excitation during end-diastolic stimulation is explained by half-cell double layer discharge

The phenomenon of anodal-break excitation during end-diastolic stimulation of the heart was discovered many years ago by B. Hoffman. Yet, the existence and mechanistic explanation of this effect remain controversial. We sought to confirm its existence and to determine a possible role of half-cell potential. We used isolated Langendorff-perfused rabbit hearts (n = 6) which were stained with di-4-ANEPPS and perfused with 15-mM butanedione monoxime (BDM). Transmembrane potentials were optically recorded at the left ventricular epicardium with a high spatial and temporal resolution (200 microm/343 micros) near the tip of a 120-microm platinum-iridium Teflon-coated unipolar pacing electrode to detect virtual electrode polarization and to reconstruct an activation pattern. Hearts were paced at a cycle length of 300 ms by anodal square pulses with an amplitude of 0.1-10 mA and a duration of 5-60 ms. Data revealed that the anodal-break excitation does exists and is accompanied by an overshoot in the recordings of the pacing current. Addition of a diode in the stimulation circuit eliminated both the overshoot and the break excitation. The findings suggest that a half-cell surface potential at the pacing electrode metal-saline interface may influence the pacing currents during unipolar anodal cardiac stimulation providing "break"-like activation. We also confirmed that the threshold of "break"-like excitation is lower than make-excitation. We suggest that further exploration of this effect is needed in order to design improved multiphasic pacing waveforms.     

An in vitro model of a retinal prosthesis

Epiretinal prostheses are being developed to bypass a degenerated photoreceptor layer and excite surviving ganglion and inner retinal cells. We used custom microfabricated multielectrode arrays with 200-microm-diameter stimulating electrodes and 10-microm-diameter recording electrodes to stimulate and record neural responses in isolated tiger salamander retina. Pharmacological agents were used to isolate direct excitation of ganglion cells from excitation of other inner retinal cells. Strength-duration data suggest that, if amplitude will be used for the coding of brightness or gray level in retinal prostheses, shorter pulses (200 micros) will allow for a smaller region in the area of the electrode to be excited over a larger dynamic range compared with longer pulses (1 ms). Both electrophysiological results and electrostatic finite-element modeling show that electrode-electrode interactions can lead to increased thresholds for sites half way between simultaneously stimulated electrodes (29.4 +/- 6.6 nC) compared with monopolar stimulation (13.3 +/- 1.7 nC, p < 0.02). Presynaptic stimulation of the same ganglion cell with both 200- and 10-microm-diameter electrodes yielded threshold charge densities of 12 +/- 6 and 7.66 +/- 1.30 nC/cm2, respectively, while the required charge was 12.5 +/- 6.2 and 19 +/- 3.3 nC.     

A transcranial magnetic stimulator inducing near-rectangular pulses with controllable pulse width (cTMS)

A novel transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) device with controllable pulse width (PW) and near-rectangular pulse shape (cTMS) is described. The cTMS device uses an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) with appropriate snubbers to switch coil currents up to 6 kA, enabling PW control from 5 micros to over 100 micros. The near-rectangular induced electric field pulses use 2%-34% less energy and generate 67%-72% less coil heating compared to matched conventional cosine pulses. CTMS is used to stimulate rhesus monkey motor cortex in vivo with PWs of 20 to 100 micros, demonstrating the expected decrease of threshold pulse amplitude with increasing PW. The technological solutions used in the cTMS prototype can expand functionality, and reduce power consumption and coil heating in TMS, enhancing its research and therapeutic applications.     

不同延时的组合脉冲激光致硅表面损伤研究

为了研究组合脉冲激光与单晶硅材料的相互作用过程,采用两束脉宽分别为7ns和1ms的脉冲激光复合作用的方式,进行了单束毫秒脉冲激光和组合脉冲激光辐照硅片的实验研究,并结合数值计算对比了两种激光工作模式辐照造成的表面损伤形貌;根据组合脉冲激光延迟时间的不同将损伤形貌分为3类,对熔融深度和表面损伤半径做了进一步的研究。结果表明,组合脉冲激光的损伤效应更为严重,包括解理裂纹、烧蚀和皱褶,表面损伤半径主要取决于入射毫秒脉冲激光的能量密度,而熔融深度随延迟时间的增加而减小;毫秒脉冲激光的预加热以及纳秒脉冲激光造成的表面损伤与后续毫秒脉冲激光的相互作用,使得组合脉冲激光具有更好的损伤效果。该研究结果可为今后组合脉冲激光加工半导体材料提供参考。     

A mathematical model of make and break electrical stimulation ofcardiac tissue by a unipolar anode or cathode

Numerical simulations of electrical stimulation of cardiac tissue using a unipolar extracellular electrode were performed. The bidomain model with unequal anisotropy ratios represented the tissue, and the Beeler-Reuter model represented the active membrane properties. Four types of excitation were considered: cathode make (CM), anode make (AM), cathode break (CB), and anode break (AB). The mechanisms of excitation were: for CM, tissue under the cathode was depolarized to threshold; for AM, tissue at a virtual cathode was depolarized to threshold; for CB, a long cathodal pulse produced a steady-state depolarization under the cathode and hyperpolarization at a virtual anode. At the end (break) of the pulse, the depolarization diffused into the hyperpolarized tissue, resulting in excitation. For AB, a long anodal pulse produced a steady-state hyperpolarization under the anode and depolarization at a virtual cathode. At the end (break) of the pulse, the depolarization diffused into the hyperpolarized tissue, resulting in excitation. For AB stimulation, decay of the hyperpolarization faster than that of the depolarization was necessary. The thresholds for rheobase and diastolic CM, AM, CB, and AB stimulation were 0.038, 0.41, 0.49, and 5.3 mA, respectively, for an electrode length of 1 mm and a surface area of 1.5 mm². Threshold increased as the size of the electrode increased. The strength-duration curves for CM and AM were similar except when the duration was shorter than 0.2 ms, in which case the AM threshold rose more quickly with decreasing duration than did the CM threshold. CM and AM resulted in similar strength-frequency curves. The model agrees qualitatively, but (in some cases) not quantitatively, with experiments     

飞秒脉冲的破坏阈值研究

在Stuart等人理论模型的基础上,综合考虑Ming等人对电子密度衰减机制的研究,对飞秒激光的破坏机制进行了分析。通过计算模拟,分析了多光子电离、雪崩电离、电子衰减等机制与被辐照介质中自由电子密度之间的关系。分析表明脉冲宽度越窄,多光子电离过程提供的自由电子比例越小,其对激光破坏的作用也越小,此时雪崩电离过程将提供绝大部分电子,起到主导的作用;而随着脉宽增大,多光子电离提供的自由电子比例也将增大,其作用逐渐增强。当考虑衰减机制的影响后,电子密度在脉冲后沿不是维持在一个稳定的值,而是在达到极大值后呈下降趋势。在研究电子密度的基础上,利用计算飞秒脉冲破坏阈值的模型,分析了不同的衰减因子对破坏阈值的影响,研究表明,考虑电子衰减机制模拟得到的破坏阈值比不考虑时有所提高。     

The effect of stimulus parameters on the recruitment characteristics of direct nerve stimulation

The effect of stimulus parameters on the recruitment characteristics of motor nerve was studied for regulated current monophasic and balanced charge biphasic stimuli. Results of a nerve model investigation indicated that the threshold difference between different diameter nerve fibers would be dependent on pulse width, the choice between monophasic and biphasic stimuli, and the delay between the primary cathodic and secondary anodic pulses. Threshold difference increased with decreasing pulse width, the greatest effects evident for pulses less than 100 ?s. Biphasic stimulation with no delay between pulses provided greater threshold separation than monophasic stimulation or biphasic stimulation with delay. Animal experiments, in which recruitment in a nerve trunk composed of mixed diameter nerve fibers was examined, showed a decrease in recruitment slope with a decrease in pulse width and with the use of a biphasic, zero delay pulse. These results were examined through muscle force measurements using both a metal loop electrode encircling the nerve trunk and a nerve cuff electrode, i. e., a loop electrode in an insulating tube.     

Equivalent pulse parameters for electroporation

Electroporation-based applications require the use of specific pulse parameters for a successful outcome. When recommended values of pulse parameters cannot be set, similar outcomes can be obtained by using equivalent pulse parameters. We determined the relations between the amplitude and duration/number of pulses resulting in the same fraction of electroporated cells. Pulse duration was varied from 150 ns to 100 ms, and the number of pulses from 1 to 128. Fura 2-AM was used to determine electroporation of cells to Ca(2+). With longer pulses or higher number of pulses, lower amplitudes are needed for the same fraction of electroporated cells. The expression derived from the model of electroporation could describe the measured data on the whole interval of pulse durations. In a narrower range (0.1-100 ms), less complex, logarithmic or power functions could be used instead. The relation between amplitude and number of pulses could best be described with a power function or an exponential function. We show that relatively simple two-parameter power or logarithmic functions are useful when equivalent pulse parameters for electroporation are sought. Such mathematical relations between pulse parameters can be important in planning of electroporation-based treatments, such as electrochemotherapy and nonthermal irreversible electroporation.     

Laser-induced surface and coating damage

Results from experiments on laser-induced damage to surfaces of optically polished glass and fused-silica and thin-film coatings are presented. Measurements were made under proper conditions to characterize actual laser components. Data are given for distributions of thresholds for 1.06 μm, 1 ns pulses, the influence of coating materials and designs, and effects of surface preparation on damage threshold, variations of threshold with duration of the laser pulse, and thresholds for selected visible and ultraviolet wavelength pulses.     

An In Vitro Model of a Retinal Prosthesis

Epiretinal prostheses are being developed to bypass a degenerated photoreceptor layer and excite surviving ganglion and inner retinal cells. We used custom microfabricated multielectrode arrays with 200-mum-diameter stimulating electrodes and 10-mum-diameter recording electrodes to stimulate and record neural responses in isolated tiger salamander retina. Pharmacological agents were used to isolate direct excitation of ganglion cells from excitation of other inner retinal cells. Strength-duration data suggest that, if amplitude will be used for the coding of brightness or gray level in retinal prostheses, shorter pulses (200 mus) will allow for a smaller region in the area of the electrode to be excited over a larger dynamic range compared with longer pulses (1 ms). Both electrophysiological results and electrostatic finite-element modeling show that electrode-electrode interactions can lead to increased thresholds for sites half way between simultaneously stimulated electrodes (29.4 plusmn 6.6 nC) compared with monopolar stimulation (13.3 plusmn 1.7 nC, < 0.02). Presynaptic stimulation of the same ganglion cell with both 200- and 10- m-diameter electrodes yielded threshold charge densities of 12 plusmn 6 and 7.66 plusmn 1.30 nC/cm², respectively, while the required charge was 12.5 plusmn 6.2 and 19 plusmn 3.3 nC.     

Pulsed laser damage thresholds in vitro for intraocular lenses and membranes

Energy and power density damage thresholds were determined in air, for plastic IOL's and membranes at the focal point of several solid-state laser systems: 1) 694 nm,Q-switched single pulse (30 ns), multimode, 2) 1064 nm,Q-switched single pulse (20 ns), TEM00, 3) 1060 nm, mode-locked single pulse, 15 ps, TEM11, 4) 530 nm, mode-locked single pulse, 15 ps, TEM11, and 5) 1064 nm, mode-locked pulse train (9-11 pulses, 30 ps), TEM00. Pulse energies bracketing damage thresholds as well as focal diameter and pulse duration for each system were determined. Energy density thresholds are lower, and power density thresholds higher, for shorter duration pulses-e.g., 23 J/cm²(1.15 GW/cm²) versus 6 J/cm²(400 GW/cm²) at the same wavelength as in systems 2) and 3) (p = 0.005). Damage thresholds for glass IOL's are 37 J/cm²(1.9 GW/cm²) and 37 J/cm²(1235 GW/cm²) as in systems 2) and 5). Damage threshold values for plastic membranes (Saran Wrap^®) exposed to nanosecond and picosecond pulse trains of Nd:YAG at 1064 nm are about half that of plastic IOL's. When laser pulses with a cone angle of 14° from systems 2) and 5) are focused on plastic membrane next to the IOL, damage thresholds are 30 J/cm²(1.5 GW/cm²) for 20 nsQ-switched pulses and 20 J/cm²(670 GW/cm²) for trains of 30 ps mode-locked pulses. Damage thresholds of IOL's immersed in 0.9 percent saline are approximately the same as those obtained in air.     

Charge density and charge per phase as cofactors in neural injuryinduced by electrical stimulation

The possibility of neural injury during prolonged electrical stimulation of the brain imposes some constraints on the use of this technique for therapeutic and experimental applications. Stimulating electrodes of various sizes were used to investigate the interactions of two stimulus parameters, charge density and charge per phase, in determining the threshold of neural injury induced by electrical stimulation. Platinum electrodes ranging in size from 0.002 to 0.5 cm2 were implanted over the parietal cortex of adult cats. Penetrating microelectrodes fabricated from iridium, with surface areas of 65 +/- 3 x 10(-6) cm2 were inserted into the parietal cortex. Ten days after implantation, the electrodes were pulsed continuously for 7h using charge balanced, current regulated, symmetric pulse pairs, 400 microseconds per phase in duration, at a repetition rate of 50 Hz. The animals were perfused immediately after the stimulation for histologic evaluation of the brain tissue subjacent to the electrode sites. The results show that charge density (as measured at the surface of the stimulating electrode), and charge per phase, interact in a synergistic manner to determine the threshold of stimulation-induced neural injury. This interaction occurs over a wide range of both parameters; for charge density from at least 10 to 800 microC/cm2 and, for charge per phase, from at least 0.05 to 5.0 microC per phase. The significance of these findings in elucidating the mechanisms underlying stimulation-induced injury is discussed.     

Comments on "Evaluation of interactions of electric fields due to electrostatic discharge with human tissue"

Attention is drawn to recent paper by Rogers et al. (Aug., 2004) in which ultra-wideband pulses are applied to an isolated muscle as part of deriving a strength-duration curve for threshold stimulation. The paper extends the strength-duration threshold curve for unipolar pulses down to a pulse duration of about 1 ns, on the order of 1000 times shorter than previously studied. Results of the work justify use of traditional mathematical models of the strength-duration curve for nanosecond pulses, as done recently for the electric field resulting from electrostatic discharge through the body (Dawson, et al., 2004).     

A Remote Control Brain Telestimulator with Solar Cell Power Supply

A brain telestimulator system is described which can be used with primates weighing 3.0 kg or more. The 3×6×7 cm, 200 gm head-mounted receiver employs solar cells to maintain the charge on its battery, thereby permitting experiments to continue undisturbed for many months. The head unit develops across its output a cathodal, monophasic pulse whose duration, rate, and constant current are remotely controlled from the transmitter. Subject to a duty cycle of 0.1, these parameters are continuously and remotely variable: pulse repetition rate, 0-200 pulses per second; pulse duration, 0.1-3.0 ms; pulse current intensity, 0-1.0 mA with less than ± 3 percent variance for loads between 2500-10 000 ohms. Output pulse rise time is 30 , ?s. Any one of 12 electrode channels can be selected for stimulation by remote control activation of an electro-mechanical stepping switch in the head unit. Utilization of crystal control in the frequency modulated transmitter and head units permits multi-animal operation by providing separate bands in the 138 MHz region for independent stimulation of up to four animals. The sensitivity of the receiver has purposely been designed low (-35 dBm). Thus, with the present transmitter the system has a range of about 0.2 mile, which extends beyond the normal visual limits of observation of primate groups.     

光学元件激光损伤阈值的指数拟合法以及测试误差分析

利用指数拟合法拟合损伤概率,获取1-on-1激光损伤阈值;分析了测试光斑面积以及单脉冲能量台阶取样点数对损伤概率的影响。采用理论推导得到了缺陷按完全简并模型分布时的损伤概率表示式,做进一步的修改使之适用于非完全简并情况从而得到了指数拟合公式,并通过实验比较了直线拟合与指数拟合的结果,证明了指数拟合法的优越性;计算模拟研究了测试光斑面积以及单脉冲能量台阶取样点数对测试误差的影响,发现测试光斑面积越大、取样点数越多则测试结果越准确。     

Effects of the timing of AC stress on device degradation produced by trap states in low-temperature polycrystalline-silicon TFTs

Device degradation under ac stress in low-temperature polycrystalline silicon thin-film transistors (LTPS TFTs) is analyzed with the density of trap states, electron-emission time, and electron-trapping time as foci. LTPS TFTs are shown to incur greater deterioration of characteristics under ac stress than silicon-on-insulator TFTs. Characteristics are more rapidly worsened as the falling time (t/sub f/) of gate pulses becomes shorter in the range below 1 ms. In addition, the degradation produced by a given number of pulses increases with the duration of the low level of the gate pulse in the range up to 1 ms. These behaviors are due to the slow emission of trapped electrons. On the other hand, the device degradation is independent of the duration of the high level of the gate pulse because the electrons are trapped quickly (in less than 1 /spl mu/s) once the level on the gate becomes high. The U-shaped distribution of trap-state density within the energy gap largely determines the dependence of the ac stress degradation on t/sub f/, since trapped electrons for which the emission time is longer than t/sub f/ are not emitted within the period of transient variation of gate voltage, and the number of electrons emitted after the gate has gone low increases with decreasing t/sub f/. Severe degradation is induced by ac stress conditions that correspond to electron emission from the trap states close to conduction band when the TFT is turned off.     

Laser-induced plasma formation in water at nanosecond tofemtosecond time scales: calculation of thresholds, absorptioncoefficients, and energy density

The generation of plasmas in water by high-power laser pulses was investigated for pulse durations between 100 ns and 100 fs on the basis of a rate equation for the free electron density. The rate equation was numerically solved to calculate the evolution of the electron density during the laser pulse and to determine the absorption coefficient and energy density of the plasma. For nanosecond laser pulses, the generation of free electrons in distilled water is initiated by multiphoton ionization but then dominated by cascade ionization. For shorter laser pulses, multiphoton ionization gains ever more importance, and collision and recombination losses during breakdown diminish. The corresponding changes in the evolution of the free carrier density explain the reduction of the energy threshold for breakdown and of the plasma energy density observed with decreasing laser pulse duration. By solving the rate equation, we could also explain the complex pulse duration dependence of plasma transmission found in previous experiments. Good quantitative agreement was found between calculated and measured values for the breakdown threshold, plasma absorption coefficient, and plasma energy density     

Photoactivation of the processes of formation of nanostructures by local anodic oxidation of a titanium film

Experimental results on the conditions of activation of probe nanolithography of a thin titanium film by means of local anodic oxidation are reported. It is established that ultraviolet stimulation reduces the geometric dimensions of nanometric oxide structures. The stimulation is accompanied by an increase in the amplitude and duration of the threshold voltage pulse, correspondingly, from 6 to 7 V and from 50 to 100 ms at the relative humidity 50%. The experimental data on the effect of the cantilever coating material and substrate temperature on the geometric dimensions of nanometric oxide structures are reported.     

利用单电极不对称双向脉冲刺激实现哺乳动物有髓神经纤维选择性兴奋的仿真研究

本研究的目的是要从理论上探讨利用单电极双向脉冲刺激实现哺乳动物神经纤维选择性刺激,(即当刺激一束神经时,不兴奋粗神经而兴奋细神经)的可能性.双向脉冲刺激可以降低刺激脉冲对神经纤维产生的电化学损伤.为研究哺乳动物有髓神经纤维的电特性,建立了一个基于简单的无穷大、各向同性的容积导体模型的仿真系统.利用该仿真系统,采用"不对称但电荷平衡"的双向脉冲刺激,计算了神经纤维的兴奋和阻断阈值与纤维直径、纤维-电极间距离的关系.结果表明:在距电极一定距离内采用该双向脉冲刺激模式确实可以实现哺乳动物有髓神经纤维的选择性兴奋.