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A model of the electrical behaviour of myelinated sensory nerve fibres based on human data

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An Erratum to this article was published on 01 July 1999

Abstract

Calculation of the response of human myelinated sensory nerve fibres to spinal cord stimulation initiated the development of a fibre model based on electro-physiological and morphometric data for human sensory nerve fibres. The model encompasses a mathematical description of the kinetics of the nodal membrane, and a non-linear fibre geometry. Fine tuning of only a few, not well-established parameters was performed by fitting the shape of a propagating action potential and its diameter-dependent propagation velocity. The quantitative behaviour of this model corresponds better to experimentally determined human fibre properties than other mammalian, non-human models do. Typical characteristics, such as the shape of the action potential, the propagation velocity and the strength-duration behaviour show a good fit with experimental data. The introduced diameter-dependent parameters did not result in a noticeable diameter dependency of action potential duration and refractory period. The presented model provides an improved tool to analyse the electrical behaviour of human myelinated sensory nerve fibres.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Biomedical Technology, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands

    W. A. Wesselink,  J. Holsheimer & H. B. K. Boom

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  1. W. A. Wesselink
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  2. J. Holsheimer
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  3. H. B. K. Boom
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Correspondence to J. Holsheimer.

Additional information

An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02513344.

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Wesselink, W.A., Holsheimer, J. & Boom, H.B.K. A model of the electrical behaviour of myelinated sensory nerve fibres based on human data. Med. Biol. Eng. Comput. 37, 228–235 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02513291

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