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Intraorbital optic nerve stimulation with penetrating electrodes: in vivo electrophysiology study in rabbits

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Abstract

Purpose

To investigate the response properties of the electrically evoked potentials (EEPs) elicited by intraorbital optic nerve stimulation with penetrating electrodes using different stimulus parameters.

Methods

Visually evoked potentials (VEPs) were recorded as a control and for comparative purposes. Teflon-coated tungsten wire electrodes (100 μm core-diameter, 300 μm exposed tip) were inserted intraorbitally into the optic nerve. A charge-balanced biphasic current was delivered to the optic nerve via inserted wire electrodes in 26 anaesthetized rabbits. EEPs were recorded by epidural electrodes placed over the visual cortex. The charge density threshold for eliciting EEPs was determined. Stimulus pulse amplitude, duration, frequency and waveform were varied to study their effects on EEPs. After the experiments, the stimulated optic nerves were examined histologically for examination of implantation position of the stimulating electrode into the optic nerve tissue.

Results

EEPs were successfully elicited by intraorbital optic nerve stimulation with penetrating electrodes. The measured amplitude of the first large positive peak (P1) was smaller and the latency of P1 was shorter compared with VEPs. The measured charge density threshold to elicit EEPs was 21.36 ± 5.64 μC/cm2. The amplitude of P1 increased and the latency of P1 decreased with increasing pulse amplitude of fixed duration stimuli. The amplitude of P1 increased with increasing pulse duration of fixed amplitude stimuli. For fixed charge stimuli, the amplitude of P1 decreased and the latency of P1 increased as the pulse duration increased. As frequency of stimuli varied from 1 to 10 Hz, the amplitude of P1 decreased monotonically. Among the different charge-balanced biphasic pulse stimulating waveforms, the symmetrical cathode-first biphasic pulse elicited the largest amplitude of P1.

Conclusions

Our study demonstrates that intraorbital optic nerve stimulation with different stimulus parameters by penetrating electrodes can evoke cortical responses with different properties. The short-duration symmetrical cathode-first biphasic pulses of current with low frequencies are more efficacious in eliciting electrophysiological responses in the visual cortex than other stimulating waveforms.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Yuxiu Liu and Xiaoliang Li for performing the animal surgery; Xiaohong Sui for providing technical supports on electrode fabrication; Niall McLoughlin for providing valuable reviews and comments on the manuscript.

This research is supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program, 2005CB724302), National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars from The National Natural Science Foundation of China (60588101), Shanghai Pujiang Program (07pj14050), Shanghai Commission of Science and Technology (05DZ22318, 05DZ22325, 04DZ05114).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Laser Medicine and Bio-Photonics, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Room 423, Life-Science Building 2, 800 Dong-Chuan Road, Shanghai, 200240, China

    Liming Li, Pengjia Cao, Mingjie Sun, Xinyu Chai, Kaijie Wu & Qiushi Ren

  2. Department of Ophthalmology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Shanghai First People’s Hospital, Shanghai, 200080, China

    Xun Xu

  3. Department of Ophthalmology, Beijing University Affiliated Beijing People’s Hospital, Beijing, 100044, China

    Xiaoxin Li

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  1. Liming Li
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  2. Pengjia Cao
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  8. Qiushi Ren
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Correspondence to Qiushi Ren.

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This research is supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program, 2005CB724302), National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars from The National Natural Science Foundation of China (60588101), Shanghai Pujiang Program (07pj14050), Shanghai Commission of Science and Technology (05DZ22318, 05DZ22325, 04DZ05114).

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Li, L., Cao, P., Sun, M. et al. Intraorbital optic nerve stimulation with penetrating electrodes: in vivo electrophysiology study in rabbits. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 247, 349–361 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-008-0977-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-008-0977-2

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