Micromagnetic stimulation (µMS) dose-response of the rat sciatic nerve

Objective. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of micromagnetic stimuli strength and frequency from the Magnetic Pen (MagPen) on the rat right sciatic nerve. The nerve’s response was measured by recording muscle activity and movement of the right hind limb. Approach. The MagPen was custom-built to be stably held over the sciatic nerve. Rat leg muscle twitches were captured on video, and movements were extracted using image processing algorithms. EMG recordings were also used to measure muscle activity. Main results. The MagPen prototype, when driven by an alternating current, generates a time-varying magnetic field, which, according to Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction, induces an electric field for neuromodulation. The orientation-dependent spatial contour maps of the induced electric field from the MagPen prototype have been numerically simulated. Furthermore, in this in vivo work on µMS, a dose-response relationship has been reported by experimentally studying how varying the amplitude (Range: 25 mV _p-p through 6 V _p-p) and frequency (range: 100 Hz through 5 kHz) of the MagPen stimuli alters hind limb movement. The primary highlight of this dose-response relationship (repeated over n rats, where n = 7) is that for a µMS stimuli of higher frequency, significantly smaller amplitudes can trigger hind limb muscle twitch. This frequency-dependent activation can be justified by Faraday’s Law, which states that the magnitude of the induced electric field is directly proportional to the frequency. Significance. This work reports that µMS can successfully activate the sciatic nerve in a dose-dependent manner. The impact of this dose-response curve addresses the controversy in this research community about whether the stimulation from these μcoils arise from a thermal effect or micromagnetic stimulation. MagPen probes do not have a direct electrochemical interface with tissue and therefore do not experience electrode degradation, biofouling, and irreversible redox reactions like traditional direct contact electrodes. Magnetic fields from the μcoils create more precise activation than electrodes because they apply more focused and localized stimulation. Finally, unique features of µMS, such as the orientation dependence, directionality, and spatial specificity, have been discussed.