January 27, 2020 -- Data from the first successful long-term vagus nerve stimulation implant in a mouse was reported last week at the 2020 North American Neuromodulation Society annual meeting by researchers from the Feinstein Institutes of Medical Research at Northwell Health. The successful implementation of this technology could provide game-changing therapies for multiple chronic diseases.
Previous preclinical vagus nerve stimulation studies have been limited to short-term stimulation, ranging from minutes to hours. Dr. Stavros Zanos, PhD, an assistant professor at Feinstein's Institute of Bioelectronic Medicine, and his team developed a new technique to deliver long-term electric stimulation in mice. This technology was used to implant a commercial bipolar cuff electrode around the left cervical vagus nerve. The electrode was evaluated 90 days after implantation. Real-time physiological responses were monitored with electrocardiogram and breathing sensors.
Image of the first chronic vagus nerve mouse implant. Image courtesy of the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research at Northwell Health.
This technology provides new opportunities to investigate the therapeutic potential of chronic vagus nerve stimulation in relation to a wide range of diseases modeled in mice.
The research was conducted in collaboration with Robert Froemke, PhD, an associate professor at New York University, and Cristin Welle, PhD, an assistant professor at the University of Colorado.
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