Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER TWO
Interfaces with the Peripheral
Nerve for the Control
of Neuroprostheses
Jaume del Valle, Xavier Navarro
1
Department of Cell Biology, Physiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Neurosciences,
Universitat Aut`noma de Barcelona, Centro de Investigaci´n Biom´dica en Red sobre Enfermedades
Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED), Bellaterra, Spain
1
Corresponding author: e-mail address: xavier.navarro@uab.cat
Contents
1. General Introduction
64
2. Structure and Function of the Peripheral Nerves
65
3. Types of Nerve Electrodes: An Overview
66
3.1 Extraneural electrodes
66
3.2 Intraneural electrodes
68
3.3 Regenerative electrodes
70
4. Biomedical Applications of Nerve Interfaces
73
4.1 Applications for CNS-injured patients
73
4.2 Applications for the control of prostheses
76
5. Conclusion
77
References
78
Abstract
Nervous system injuries lead to loss of control of sensory, motor, and autonomic func-
tions of the affected areas of the body. Provided the high amount of people worldwide
suffering from these injuries and the impact on their everyday life, numerous and dif-
ferent neuroprostheses and hybrid bionic systems have been developed to restore or
partially mimic the lost functions. A key point for usable neuroprostheses is the elec-
trode that interfaces the nervous system and translates not only motor orders into elec-
trical outputs that activate the prosthesis but is also able to transform sensory
information detected by the machine into signals that are transmitted to the central
nervous system. Nerve electrodes have been classified with regard to their invasiveness
in extraneural, intraneural, and regenerative. The more invasive is the implant the more
selectivity of interfacing can be reached. However, boosting invasiveness and selectivity
may also heighten nerve damage. This chapter provides a general overview of nerve
electrodes as well as the state-of-the-art of their biomedical applications in neu-
roprosthetic systems.
