Signal quality of simultaneously recorded endovascular, subdural and epidural signals are comparable

Abstract

Recent work has demonstrated the feasibility of minimally-invasive implantation of electrodes into a cortical blood vessel. However, the effect of the dura and blood vessel on recording signal quality is not understood and may be a critical factor impacting implementation of a closed-loop endovascular neuromodulation system. The present work compares the performance and recording signal quality of a minimally-invasive endovascular neural interface with conventional subdural and epidural interfaces. We compared bandwidth, signal-to-noise ratio, and spatial resolution of recorded cortical signals using subdural, epidural and endovascular arrays four weeks after implantation in sheep. We show that the quality of the signals (bandwidth and signal-to-noise ratio) of the endovascular neural interface is not significantly different from conventional neural sensors. However, the spatial resolution depends on the array location and the frequency of recording. We also show that there is a direct correlation between the signal-noise-ratio and classification accuracy, and that decoding accuracy is comparable between electrode arrays. These results support the consideration for use of an endovascular neural interface in a clinical trial of a novel closed-loop neuromodulation technology.

Over the Horizon: The Present and Future of Endovascular Neural Recording and Stimulation

“…A subsequent study explored Stentrode's spatial resolution. Both spatial resolution and signal to noise ratio from endovascular arrays were comparable to those of subdural and epidural arrays three weeks after implantation (John et al, 2018). However, spatial resolution depended on array location relative to targets as well as recording frequency; as such, because delivery of the device is constrained by the location and course of blood vessels, the absence of a suitable vessel adjacent to a target structure would remain a limitation.…”

“…Progress in this area, however, has been rapid in the last 5 years. Whereas the literature on cerebral endovascular electrical recording and progress in the field was relatively limited in the early part of this century, there have been multiple efforts from numerous groups in the last several years focused on improving recording and decoding accuracy (He et al, 2016;John et al, 2018).…”

The Future of Neuroimplantable Devices: A Materials Science and Regulatory Perspective

“…to test the viability, [59] functionality, [91] and biocompatibility [59,90] of the Stentrode. Notably, the background of the team responsible for initial publications on the Stentrode was extremely diverse.…”

A systematic review of endovascular stent-electrode arrays, a minimally invasive approach to brain-machine interfaces

“…John et al 6 explored the potential distortive effects of the dura mater and blood vessels on recording signal quality by comparing endovascular electrode arrays with conventional subdural and epidural interfaces. Electrodes of various sizes and locations were tested with respect to bandwidth, sensitivity, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), spatial profile, and ability to decode the recordings.…”