Chandan G. Reddy

In vitro biomechanical comparison of transpedicular versus translaminar C-2 screw fixation in C2–3 instrumentation

OBJECT In instrumentation of the upper cervical spine, placement of pedicle screws into C-2 is generally safe, although there is the potential for injury to the vertebral arteries. Owing to this risk, translaminar screws into C-2 have been used. The aim of this study was to compare the stability of the in vitro cadaveric spine using C-2 laminar compared with C-2 pedicle screws in C2-3 instrumentation. METHODS Eight fresh frozen human cadaveric cervical spines (C1-6) were potted at C1-2 and C5-6. Pure moments in increments of 0.3 Nm to a maximum of 1.5 Nm were applied in flexion, extension, right and left lateral bending, and right and left axial rotation. Each specimen was tested sequentially in three modes: 1) intact; 2) C2 pedicle screw-C3 lateral mass fixation; and 3) C2 laminar screw-C3 lateral mass fixation. The sequence of fixation testing was randomized. Motion was tracked with reflective markers attached to C-2 and C-3. RESULTS Spinal levels with instrumentation showed significantly less motion than the intact spine in all directions and with all loads greater than 0.3 Nm (p < 0.05). Although there was no significant difference between C2 pedicle screw-C3 lateral mass fixation and C2 laminar screw-C3 lateral mass fixation, generally the former type of fixation was associated with less motion than the latter. CONCLUSIONS When pedicle screws in C-2 are contraindicated or inappropriate, laminar screws in C-2 offer a safe and acceptable option for posterior instrumentation.

A method for placing Heschl gyrus depth electrodes

A wide range of devices is used to obtain intracranial electrocorticography recordings in patients with medically refractory epilepsy, including subdural strip and grid electrodes and depth electrodes. Penetrating depth electrodes are required to access some brain regions, and 1 target site that presents a particular technical challenge is the first transverse temporal gyrus, or Heschl gyrus (HG). The HG is located within the supratemporal plane and has an oblique orientation relative to the sagittal and coronal planes. Large and small branches of the middle cerebral artery abut the pial surface of the HG and must be avoided when planning the electrode trajectory. Auditory cortex is located within the HG, and there are functional connections between this dorsal temporal lobe region and medial sites commonly implicated in the pathophysiology of temporal lobe epilepsy. At some surgical centers, depth electrodes are routinely placed within the supratemporal plane, and the HG, in patients who require intracranial electrocorticography monitoring for presumed temporal lobe epilepsy. Information from these recordings is reported to facilitate the identification of seizure patterns in patients with or without auditory auras. To date, only one implantation method has been reported to be safe and effective for placing HG electrodes in a large series of patients undergoing epilepsy surgery. This well-established approach involves inserting the electrodes from a lateral trajectory while using stereoscopic stereotactic angiography to avoid vascular injury. In this report, the authors describe an alternative method for implantation. They use frameless stereotaxy and an oblique insertion trajectory that does not require angiography and allows for the simultaneous placement of subdural grid arrays. Results in 19 patients demonstrate the safety and efficacy of the method.

Comparison of spinal cord stimulation profiles from intra- and extradural electrode arrangements by finite element modelling.

Spinal cord stimulation currently relies on extradural electrode arrays that are separated from the spinal cord surface by a highly conducting layer of cerebrospinal fluid. It has recently been suggested that intradural placement of the electrodes in direct contact with the pial surface could greatly enhance the specificity and efficiency of stimulation. The present computational study aims at quantifying and comparing the electrical current distributions as well as the spatial recruitment profiles resulting from extra- and intra-dural electrode arrangements. The electrical potential distribution is calculated using a 3D finite element model of the human thoracic spinal canal. The likely recruitment areas are then obtained using the potential as input to an equivalent circuit model of the pre-threshold axonal response. The results show that the current threshold to recruitment of axons in the dorsal column is more than an order of magnitude smaller for intradural than extradural stimulation. Intradural placement of the electrodes also leads to much higher contrast between the stimulation thresholds for the dorsal root entry zone and the dorsal column, allowing better focusing of the stimulus.

Intracranial Somatosensory Responses with Direct Spinal Cord Stimulation in Anesthetized Sheep

The efficacy of spinal cord stimulators is dependent on the ability of the device to functionally activate targeted structures within the spinal cord, while avoiding activation of near-by non-targeted structures. In theory, these objectives can best be achieved by delivering electrical stimuli directly to the surface of the spinal cord. The current experiments were performed to study the influence of different stimulating electrode positions on patterns of spinal cord electrophysiological activation. A custom-designed spinal cord neurostimulator was used to investigate the effects of lead position and stimulus amplitude on cortical electrophysiological responses to spinal cord stimulation. Brain recordings were obtained from subdural grids placed in four adult sheep. We systematically varied the position of the stimulating lead relative to the spinal cord and the voltage delivered by the device at each position, and then examined how these variables influenced cortical responses. A clear relationship was observed between voltage and electrode position, and the magnitude of high gamma-band oscillations. Direct stimulation of the dorsal column contralateral to the grid required the lowest voltage to evoke brain responses to spinal cord stimulation. Given the lower voltage thresholds associated with direct stimulation of the dorsal column, and its possible impact on the therapeutic window, this intradural modality may have particular clinical advantages over standard epidural techniques now in routine use.

A new device concept for directly modulating spinal cord pathways: initial in vivo experimental results

We describe a novel spinal cord (SC) stimulator that is designed to overcome a major shortcoming of existing stimulator devices: their restricted capacity to selectively activate targeted axons within the dorsal columns. This device overcomes that limitation by delivering electrical stimuli directly to the pial surface of the SC. Our goal in testing this device was to measure its ability to physiologically activate the SC and examine its capacity to modulate somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEPs) triggered by peripheral stimulation. In this acute study on adult sheep (n = 7), local field potentials were recorded from a grid placed in the subdural space of the right hemisphere during electrical stimulation of the left tibial nerve and the spinal cord. Large amplitude SSEPs (>200 µV) in response to SC stimulation were consistently obtained at stimulation strengths well below the thresholds inducing neural injury. Moreover, stimulation of the dorsal columns with signals employed routinely by devices in standard clinical use, e.g., 50 Hz, 0.2 ms pulse width, produced long-lasting changes (>4.5 h) in the SSEP patterns produced by subsequent tibial nerve stimulation. The results of these acute experiments demonstrate that this device can be safely secured to the SC surface and effectively activate somatosensory pathways.

Neuroleukemiosis: an unusual cause of peripheral neuropathy

Abstract Leukemia may initially present as a peripheral neuropathy, leading to a delay in diagnosis. Leukemic infiltration of peripheral nerves, or neuroleukemiosis (NL), is exceedingly rare, with no established diagnostic or therapeutic guidelines. Five cases are presented. All patients were men with a median age of 68 years (range 46–72). Three patients had acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and two had chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). In two patients, leukemia presented with peripheral nerve involvement and both were found to have positive cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cytology, making the diagnosis AML, despite negative bone marrow and peripheral smear. All patients had painful, progressive, motor and sensory deficits. Clinical patterns were mononeuropathy (n =1), multiple mononeuropathies (n =1) and plexopathy (n =3). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) detected mass lesions in 4/5 cases, with avid fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake on positron emission tomography (PET) useful in all of these for following clinical disease progression. Three cases of nerve biopsy were performed, two of which were diagnostic of leukemic infiltration. Radiation treatment rapidly relieved pain in patients with mass lesions, in combination with chemotherapy. Four patients had disease relapse, four systemic and one also in peripheral nerves. These cases are discussed in the context of the broader literature.

Dynamic loading characteristics of an intradural spinal cord stimulator

We have measured the forces that act on the electrode-bearing surface of an intradural neuromodulator designed to be in direct contact with the pial surface of the spinal cord, as part of our effort to develop a new method for treating intractable pain. The goal was to investigate the pressures produced by this device on the spinal cord and compare them with normal intrathecal pressure. For this purpose, we employed a dual-sensor arrangement that allowed us to measure the response of a custom-designed silicone spinal cord surrogate to the forces applied by the device. We found that the device had a mean compliance of ≈63 μN μm−1, and that over a 3 mm range of compression, the mid-span pressure it exerted on the spinal cord was ≈1.88 × 103 Pa = 14.1 mm Hg, which lies within the range of normal intrathecal pressure in humans.

Soft-coupling suspension system for an intradural spinal cord stimulator: Biophysical performance characteristics

We have characterized the mechanical compliance of an improved version of the suspension system used to position the electrode-bearing membrane of an intradural neuromodulator on the dorsal pial surface of the spinal cord. Over the compression span of 5 mm, it exhibited a restoring force of 2.4 μN μm−1 and a mean pressure of 0.5 mm Hg (=66 Pa) on the surface below it, well within the range of normal intrathecal pressures. We have implanted prototype devices employing this suspension and a novel device fixation technique in a chronic ovine model of spinal cord stimulation and found that it maintains stable contact at the electrode-pia interface without lead fracture, as determined by measurement of the inter-contact impedances.

Applier tool for intradural spinal cord implants

We have designed, built and tested a novel device for placing intradural neurmodulator implants directly on the pial surface of the spinal cord. This applier tool is designed for ergonomic handling of delicate electro-mechanical devices such as the Iowa-Patch™ spinal cord stimulator implant, which is aimed at overcoming certain shortcomings in the performance of standard epidural stimulator devices. The applier is approximately 14 cm long, 6 mm in diameter, made of stainless steel components, and has simple and reliable mechanisms for the attachment and release of the implant from it. We describe the design of the device, details of its construction, and its performance during in vivo testing of somatosensory evoked potentials in an ovine model of intradural spinal cord stimulation.

MR-based measurement of spinal cord motion during flexion of the spine: implications for intradural spinal cord stimulator systems

Abstract This study develops a means of delivering electrical stimuli directly to the pial surface of the spinal cord for treatment of intractable pain. This intradural implant must remain in direct contact with the cord as it moves within the spinal canal. Therefore, magnetic resonance imaging was used to measure the movement of the spinal cord between neutral and flexed-back positions in a series of volunteers (n = 16). Following flexion of the back, the mean change in the pedicle-to-spinal cord dorsal root entry zone distance at the T10-11 level was (8.5 ± 6.0) mm, i.e. a 71% variation in the range of rostral-caudal movement of the spinal cord across all patients. There will be a large spectrum of spinal cord strains associated with this observed range of rostral-caudal motions, thus calling for suitable axial compliance within the electrode bearing portion of the intradural implant.