Vagus stimulator

AIM: Previous studies indicated that cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury (CI/RI) could induce behavioral deficits. Single treatment of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) or curcumin is reported to restore CI/RI-induced behavioral deficits. However, the synergic effect remains unclear. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Rats were divided into 6 groups: sham, CI/RI, VNS, CI/RI + VNS, VNS + curcumin and CI/RI + VNS + curcumin groups. Each group was further divided into three or four subgroups for further assessments...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Memory is one of the top concerns of epilepsy patients, but there are no known treatments to directly alleviate the memory deficits associated with epilepsy. Neurostimulation may provide new therapeutic tools to enhance memory in epilepsy patients. Here, we critically review recent investigations of memory enhancement using transcranial electrical stimulation (tES), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), chronic intracranial stimulation, and acute intracranial stimulation...

Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) may be a promising treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD). In this exploratory study, fMRI scans were acquired during continuous real or sham tVNS from 41 MDD patients. Then, all patients received real or sham tVNS treatment for four weeks. We investigated the functional connectivity (FC) of the nucleus accumbens (NAc) at different frequency bands during real and sham tVNS and explored their associations with depressive symptom changes after one month of treatment...

OBJECTIVE: Multipolar cuff electrode can selectively stimulate areas of peripheral nerves and therefore enable to control independent functions. However, the branching and fascicularization are known for a limited set of nerves and the specific organization remains subject-dependent. This paper presents a general modeling and optimization methods in the context of multipolar stimulation using a cuff electrode without a priori knowledge of the nerve structure. Vagus nerve stimulation experiments based on the optimization results were then investigated...

OBJECTIVE: To describe the response to vagus nerve stimulator (VNS) in otherwise neurotypical children with medically intractable primary generalized epilepsy. METHODS: Retrospective chart review of patients who underwent vagus nerve stimulator surgery between January 2011 and December 2015. RESULTS: Eleven patients were identified. Median follow-up duration was 2.5 years (1.2-8.4 years). Prior to vagus nerve stimulator surgery, all patients had at least 1 seizure per week, and 7/11 (64%) had daily seizures...

We used an umami substance, monosodium glutamate (MSG), as a simple stimulant to clarify the mechanism of the formation of emotional behavior. A 60 mM MSG solution was fed to spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), used as a model of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, from postnatal day 25 for 5 weeks kept in isolation. Emotional behaviors (anxiety and aggression) were then assessed by the open-field test, cylinder test and social interaction test. MSG ingestion during the developmental period resulted in a significant reduction in aggressive behavior but had few effects on anxiety-like behavior...

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Objective: To investigate the effect of α7nAChR mediated cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway on inhibition of atrial fibrillation by low-level vagus nerve stimulation(LL-VNS). Methods: Eighteen beagles were randomized into control group ( n =6), LL-VNS group ( n =6) and methyllycaconitine (MLA) + LL-VNS group ( n =6). All the beagles were subjected to rapid atrial pacing at 800 beats/min for 6 hours.And the effective refractory period (ERP) of atriums and pulmonary veins and induced atrial fibrillation (AF) were measured hourly during non-pacing...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effectiveness of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) in combination with pharmacological therapy in a longitudinal retrospective study at a single center. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data from 130 consecutive patients implanted with a VNS device between the years 2000 and 2013 was analyzed. Seizure frequency and pharmacological antiepileptic drug (AED) treatments were recorded prior to as well as at one, two, and five years after VNS implantation...

The vagus nerve represents the main component of the parasympathetic nervous system, which oversees a vast array of crucial bodily functions, including control of mood, immune response, digestion, and heart rate. It establishes one of the connections between the brain and the gastrointestinal tract and sends information about the state of the inner organs to the brain via afferent fibers. In this review article, we discuss various functions of the vagus nerve which make it an attractive target in treating psychiatric and gastrointestinal disorders...

Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is an approved therapy for treatment of epilepsy and depression. While also shown to be promising in several preclinical and clinical studies to treat cardiovascular diseases, optimal therapeutic stimulation paradigms are still under investigation. Traditionally, parameters such as frequency, current, and duty cycle are used to adjust the efficacy of VNS therapy. This study explored the effect of novel stochastic VNS (S-VNS) on acute heart rate (HR) dynamics. The effect of S-VNS was evaluated in Sprague Dawley rats by comparing the acute HR and HR variability (HRV) responses to standard, periodic VNS (P-VNS) across different frequencies (FREQs, 10-30 Hz)...

Epilepsy is a common, debilitating neurological disorder characterized by recurrent seizures. Mood disorders and cognitive deficits are common comorbidities in epilepsy that, like seizures, profoundly influence quality of life and can be difficult to treat. For patients with refractory epilepsy who are not candidates for resection, neurostimulation, the electrical modulation of epileptogenic brain tissue, is an emerging treatment alternative. Several forms of neurostimulation are currently available, and therapy selection hinges on relative efficacy for seizure control and amelioration of neuropsychiatric comorbidities...

The revolution in theory, swift technological developments, and invention of new devices have driven tremendous progress in neurostimulation as a third-line treatment for epilepsy. Over the past decades, neurostimulation took its place in the field of epilepsy as an advanced treatment technique and opened up a new world. Numerous animal studies have proven the physical efficacy of stimulation of the brain and peripheral nerves. Based on this optimistic fundamental research, new advanced techniques are being explored in clinical practice...

BACKGROUND: Invasive vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) has the potential to enhance the effects of physiotherapy for upper limb motor recovery after stroke. Noninvasive, transcutaneous auricular branch VNS (taVNS) may have similar benefits, but this has not been evaluated in stroke recovery. We sought to determine the feasibility of taVNS delivered alongside upper limb repetitive task-specific practice after stroke and its effects on a range of outcome measures evaluating limb function. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirteen participants at more than 3 months postischemic stroke with residual upper limb dysfunction were recruited from the community of Sheffield, United Kingdom (October-December 2016)...

Suppressing irrelevant information in decision making is an essential everyday skill. We studied whether this ability could be improved in epileptic patients during vagus nerve stimulation (VNS). VNS is known to increase norepinephrine (NE) in the brain. NE is thought to improve several aspects of cognitive control, including the suppression of irrelevant information. Nineteen epileptic VNS patients executed the Eriksen flanker task twice, both during on and off stimulation. Distractor interference was indexed by the congruency effect, a standard empirical marker of cognitive control...

OBJECTIVES: In the context of the first clinical trial of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) in Crohn's disease (CD), our main objective was to quantify the acute and chronic effects of VNS on brain activity in CD patients. METHODS: We measured the electroencephalogram (EEG) in 9CD patients under VNS at 10 Hz just before VNS initiation, after 6 weeks and after 12 months of chronic VNS. RESULTS: Acute VNS induced increased spectral power in delta and theta bands on frontal, temporal and occipital electrodes...

BACKGROUND: Recent studies indicate that vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) paired with rehabilitation can enhance neural plasticity in the primary sensory and motor cortices, improve forelimb function after stroke in animal models and improve motor function in patients with arm weakness after stroke. OBJECTIVE: To gain "first-in-man" experience of VNS paired with tactile training in a patient with severe sensory impairment after stroke. METHODS: During the long-term follow-up phase of a clinical trial of VNS paired with motor rehabilitation, a 71-year-old man who had made good motor recovery had ongoing severe sensory loss in his left hand and arm...

Orexins, produced in the lateral hypothalamus, are important neuropeptides that participate in the sleep/wake cycle, and their expression coincides with the projection area of the vagus nerve in the brain. Vagus nerve stimulation has been shown to decrease the amounts of daytime sleep and rapid eye movement in epilepsy patients with traumatic brain injury. In the present study, we investigated whether vagus nerve stimulation promotes wakefulness and affects orexin expression. A rat model of traumatic brain injury was established using the free fall drop method...

BACKGROUND: Vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) is a safe and well-tolerated treatment for drug resistant epilepsy. Complications and failure of the device can result from lead fracture, device malfunction, disconnection, or battery displacement and can result in a variety of symptoms. We present an interesting case of stimulator malfunction with increased impedance change seen only with a change in head position. CASE DESCRIPTION: Patient is a 25-year-old male with a vagal nerve stimulator (VNs) placed for medically refractory epilepsy who presented with neck pain and an electrical pulling sensation in his neck whenever he turned his head to the right...

OBJECTIVES: Bibliometric analysis is a commonly used analytic tool for objective determination of the most influential and peer-recognized articles within a given field. This study is the first bibliometric analysis of the literature in the field of invasive neuromodulation, excluding deep brain stimulation. The objectives of this study are to identify the 50 most cited articles in invasive neuromodulation, provide an overview of the literature to assist in clinical education, and evaluate the effect of impact factor on manuscript recognition...