Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 Jun;43(6):897-9.
doi: 10.1002/mus.22037.

Electrical conduction block in large nerves: high-frequency current delivery in the nonhuman primate

Affiliations

Electrical conduction block in large nerves: high-frequency current delivery in the nonhuman primate

D Michael Ackermann Jr et al. Muscle Nerve. 2011 Jun.

Abstract

Recent studies have made significant progress toward the clinical implementation of high-frequency conduction block (HFB) of peripheral nerves. However, these studies were performed in small nerves, and questions remain regarding the nature of HFB in large-diameter nerves. This study in nonhuman primates shows reliable conduction block in large-diameter nerves (up to 4.1 mm) with relatively low-threshold current amplitude and only moderate nerve discharge prior to the onset of block.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
a) Finger flexor force during HFAC block threshold trial on the left median nerve in the m. mulatta monkey at a frequency of 30 kHz. Relative HFAC amplitude is indicated diagrammatically. HFAC amplitude started at 15.0 V, and threshold was measured to be 10.6 V (the arrow indicates the first twitch resulting from partial conduction block). b) Table summarizing the results of the randomized block threshold and onset response trials for each of the three nerves tested. The waveform generator was unable to produce sufficient amplitude to produce a complete conduction block at 40 kHz for the 4.1 mm nerve.

References

    1. Rosenblueth A, Reboul J. The Blocking and Deblocking Effects of Alternating Currents on Nerve. Am J Physiol. 1939;125(2):251–264.
    1. Kilgore K, Bhadra N. Nerve conduction block utilizing high-frequency alternating current. Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing. 2004;42(3):394–406. - PubMed
    1. Foldes E, Ackermann D, Bhadra N, Kilgore K. Counted Cycles Method to Quantify the Onset Activity in High-Frequency Peripheral Nerve Block. Proceedings of International Conf of the IEEE EMBS; 2009. pp. 614–617. - PubMed
    1. Bhadra N, Bhadra N, Kilgore K, Gustafson KJ. High frequency electrical conduction block of the pudendal nerve. Journal of Neural Engineering. 2006;3(2):180. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cattel M, Gerard R. The inhibitory effect of high-frequency stimulation and the excitation state of the nerve. The Journal of Physiology. 1935;83:407–415. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types