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Response properties of electrically evoked potential elicited by multi-channel penetrative optic nerve stimulation in rabbits

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Abstract

Visual prosthesis is a potential way to restore partial vision for the patients with degenerative retinal diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Optic nerve stimulation with penetrating microelectrode array has been suggested as a possible method for visual prosthesis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility and basic response properties of cortical responses elicited by optic nerve stimulation with penetrating electrodes in rabbits. In this study, three triangularly or linearly configured platinum–iridium wire electrodes were inserted into the optic nerves of rabbits for electrical stimulation. The charge-balanced current pulses with amplitudes ranging from 10 to 100 μA at 0.5 ms pulse duration were used as the electrical stimuli. The electrically evoked potentials (EEPs) were recorded with a 16-channel silver-ball electrode array in the rabbit visual cortex. Our experimental results showed that the activities of visual cortex could be effectively evoked by the optic nerve stimulation with penetrating electrodes. The threshold of current and charge density to elicit EEPs under optic nerve stimulation at 0.5 ms pulse duration was 20.3 ± 7.5 μA and 37.8 ± 13.9 μC/cm2, respectively. Current stimuli with cathode-first pulses elicited larger cortical responses than that with anode-first pulses. The amplitude of P1 and extent of EEPs increased as the stimulating current amplitude increased, while the latency of P1 decreased. The spatial distributions of multi-channel EEPs in visual cortex demonstrated distinctively different properties under stimulation with different orientations of the stimulating electrodes.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Yuxiu Liu and Ting Liang for their contributions to the performance of animal surgery. 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), The National Natural Science Foundation of China (60871091), National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program, 2006AA04Z356), Shanghai Commission of Science and Technology (064119540).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Visual Science, Institute for Laser Medicine and Bio-Photonics, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Room 406 Life-Science Building 2, No. 800 Dong-Chuan Road, Shanghai, 200240, China

    Changsi Cai, Liming Li, Xiaoliang Li, Xinyu Chai, Jingjing Sun, Yiliang Lu, Xiaohong Sui, Panpan Chen & Qiushi Ren

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  1. Changsi Cai
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  2. Liming Li
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Correspondence to Qiushi Ren.

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Changsi Cai and Liming Li contributed equally to this work.

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Cai, C., Li, L., Li, X. et al. Response properties of electrically evoked potential elicited by multi-channel penetrative optic nerve stimulation in rabbits. Doc Ophthalmol 118, 191–204 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10633-008-9157-2

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