• Electronics and Telecommunications Trends
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.98-110
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• 2020

Precise detection and modulation of electrical signal patterns passing through peripheral nerves connecting organs and brainstems, referred to as electroceuticals or bioelectronic medicines, have emerged as a new type of treatments for neural disorders and chronic diseases. With the rapid advancements in neural interface technologies, electroceuticals are the focus of treatments for these disorders or diseases. In this paper, we introduced electroceuticals as an extension of neuromodulation for the treatment of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, obesity, and bladder dysfunction, without side effects that are unavoidably elicited when conventional drugs are taken. Further, this paper reviewed the anatomy of the peripheral nervous system, treatment examples for chronic diseases, technological demands for peripheral nerve interfacing, global R&D programs and market trends for electroceuticals, and prospects on electroceuticals.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1997 no.11
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• pp.31-34
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• 1997

A semiconductor microelectrode array has been successfully used in obtaining single unit recordings from medial giant nerve of clay fish, rat saphenous nerve and abdominal ganglia of aplysia. The recording device fabricated using silicon microfabrication techniques is a depth-probe type and, previously, has been mostly used to record from central nerve system of vertebrates. From invertebrates, and also from peripheral nerves of vertebrates, however, the quality of the recorded signal depends heavily on the recording conditions, such as the proximity of the electrode site to the nerve cells and the size of the neuron. We have modeled the signal to noise ratio as unctions of these parameters and compared the experimental data with the calculated values thus obtained.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.22-28
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• 2015

This study demonstrates a polyimide nerve cuff electrode with a conductive polymer for improving recording signal quality at peripheral nerve. The nerve cuff electrodes with platinum (Pt), iridium oxide (IrOx), and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): p-toluene sulfonate (PEDOT:pTS) were fabricated and investigated their electrical characteristics for improving recorded nerve signal quality. The fabricated nerve cuff electrodes with Pt, IrOx, and PEDOT:pTS were characterized their impedance and CDC by using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and cyclic voltammetry. The impedance of PEDOT:pTS measured at 1 kHz was $257{\Omega}$, which was extremely lower than the value of the nerve cuff electrodes with IrOx ($15897{\Omega}$) and Pt ($952{\Omega}$), respectively. Furthermore, the charge delivery capacity (CDC) of the nerve cuff electrode with PEDOT:pTS was dramatically increased to 62 times than the nerve cuff electrode with IrOx. In ex-vivo test using extracted sciatic nerve of spaque-dawley rat (SD rat), the PEDOT:pTS group exhibited higher signal-to-interference ratio than IrOx group. These results indicated that the nerve cuff electrode with PEDOT:pTS is promising for effective implantable nerve signal recording.

• 한국HCI학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.02a
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• pp.222-227
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• 2007

본 논문에서는 지체장애인들이 유효한 말초신경신호를 이용하여 컴퓨터를 사용할 수 있는 인터페이스를 개발하였다. 손목의 움직임을 통해 아래팔 4부분으로부터 근전도 (electromyogram, EMG) 신호를 추출하였고, 다층 인식 신경망을 사용하여 사용자의 의도를 추출하였다. 이를 통하여 마우스 커서의 움직임을 제어하고, 마우스 버튼을 클릭하는 동작을 할 수 있으며, 시각 디스플레이 장치에 표시된 핸드폰 자판과 같은 유저 인터페이스를 통해 컴퓨터에 글자를 입력할 수 있게 하였다. 추가적으로 Fitts' law를 사용하여 본 인터페이스의 사용성을 평가하였고, 이를 기존연구와 비교함으로써 본 인터페이스의 효용성을 검증하였다.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.219-227
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• 2024

Objectives: The pulp is the center of the tooth containing nerves and blood vessels. The condition in which the pulp becomes inflamed due to caries or periodontitis is called pulpitis. Pulpitis is a difficult-to-treat disease and causes peripheral nerve tissue changes and severe pain; however, the relationship between neuronal activity and voltage-gated sodium channel 1.7 (Nav1.7) expression in the trigeminal ganglion (TG) during pulpitis has not been well studied. In this study, we found that experimentally induced pulpitis activates Nav1.7 expression in the periphery, leading to neuronal overexpression in the TG. Thus, we sought to identify ways to regulate this process. Methods: Acute pulpitis was induced in rat maxillary molars by treating the pulp with allyl isothiocyanate (AITC). Three days later, in vivo optical imaging was used to record and compare neural activities in the TG. Western blotting was used to identify molecular changes in terms of the expression of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), c-Fos, transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1), and collapsin response mediator protein-2 (CRMP2) in the brain stem. Results: The results confirmed the neurological changes in the TGs of the pulpitis model, and histological and molecular biological evidence confirmed that increased Nav1.7 expression induced by pulpitis leads to pain. Furthermore, selective inhibition of Nav1.7 resulted in changes in neural activity, suggesting that pulpitis induces increased Nav1.7 expression, and that effective control of Nav1.7 could potentially reduce pain. Conclusions: The inhibition of overexpressed Nav1.7 channels may modulate nociceptive signal processing in the brain and effectively control pain associated with pulpitis.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.61 no.3
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• pp.363-375
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• 2018

Intraoperative monitoring (IOM) utilizes electrophysiological techniques as a surrogate test and evaluation of nervous function while a patient is under general anesthesia. They are increasingly used for procedures, both surgical and endovascular, to avoid injury during an operation, examine neurological tissue to guide the surgery, or to test electrophysiological function to allow for more complete resection or corrections. The application of IOM during pediatric brain tumor resections encompasses a unique set of technical issues. First, obtaining stable and reliable responses in children of different ages requires detailed understanding of normal age-adjusted brain-spine development. Neurophysiology, anatomy, and anthropometry of children are different from those of adults. Second, monitoring of the brain may include risk to eloquent functions and cranial nerve functions that are difficult with the usual neurophysiological techniques. Third, interpretation of signal change requires unique sets of normative values specific for children of that age. Fourth, tumor resection involves multiple considerations including defining tumor type, size, location, pathophysiology that might require maximal removal of lesion or minimal intervention. IOM techniques can be divided into monitoring and mapping. Mapping involves identification of specific neural structures to avoid or minimize injury. Monitoring is continuous acquisition of neural signals to determine the integrity of the full longitudinal path of the neural system of interest. Motor evoked potentials and somatosensory evoked potentials are representative methodologies for monitoring. Free-running electromyography is also used to monitor irritation or damage to the motor nerves in the lower motor neuron level : cranial nerves, roots, and peripheral nerves. For the surgery of infratentorial tumors, in addition to free-running electromyography of the bulbar muscles, brainstem auditory evoked potentials or corticobulbar motor evoked potentials could be combined to prevent injury of the cranial nerves or nucleus. IOM for cerebral tumors can adopt direct cortical stimulation or direct subcortical stimulation to map the corticospinal pathways in the vicinity of lesion. IOM is a diagnostic as well as interventional tool for neurosurgery. To prove clinical evidence of it is not simple. Randomized controlled prospective studies may not be possible due to ethical reasons. However, prospective longitudinal studies confirming prognostic value of IOM are available. Furthermore, oncological outcome has also been shown to be superior in some brain tumors, with IOM. New methodologies of IOM are being developed and clinically applied. This review establishes a composite view of techniques used today, noting differences between adult and pediatric monitoring.