Microstimulation Is a Promising Approach in Achieving Better Lead Placement in Subthalamic Nucleus Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery

Abstract

Background: The successful application of subthalamic nucleus (STN) deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery relies mostly on optimal lead placement, whereas the major challenge is how to precisely localize STN. Microstimulation, which can induce differentiating inhibitory responses between STN and substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNr) near the ventral border of STN, has indicated a great potential of breaking through this barrier.Objective: This study aims to investigate the feasibility of localizing the boundary between STN and SNr (SSB) using microstimulation and promote better lead placement.Methods: We recorded neurophysiological data from 41 patients undergoing STN-DBS surgery with microstimulation in our hospital. Trajectories with typical STN signal were included. Microstimulation was applied near the bottom of STN to determine SSB, which was validated by the imaging reconstruction of DBS leads.Results: In most trajectories with microstimulation (84.4%), neuronal firing in STN could not be inhibited by microstimulation, whereas in SNr long inhibition was observed following microstimulation. The success rate of localizing SSB was significantly higher in trajectories with microstimulation than those without. Moreover, results from imaging reconstruction and intraoperative neurological assessments demonstrated better lead location and higher therapeutic effectiveness in trajectories with microstimulation and accurately identified SSB.Conclusion: Microstimulation on microelectrode recording is an effective approach to localize the SSB. Our data provide clinical evidence that microstimulation can be routinely employed to achieve better lead placement.

Persistent synaptic inhibition of the subthalamic nucleus by high frequency stimulation

“…In addition to the potential mechanistic insights gained by ascertaining the physiological differences in the synaptic dynamics of inhibitory transmission in STN (persistent) versus SNr (depressed) during HFS, these dynamics can be used as neural biomarkers to delineate these structures from one another during DBS implantation procedures. To this end, previous works have suggested that the duration of neuronal inhibition which persists beyond the cessation of a short-duration microstimulation train of HFS could also be used for such purposes [9,33].…”