TY - JOUR
T1 - Design and testing of a controlled electromagnetic spinal cord impactor for use in large animal models of acute traumatic spinal cord injury
AU - Petteys, Rory J.
AU - Spitz, Steven M.
AU - Syed, Hasan
AU - Rice, R. Andrew
AU - Sarabia-Estrada, Rachel
AU - Goodwin, C. Rory
AU - Sciubba, Daniel M.
AU - Freedman, Brett A.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017
PY - 2017/9
Y1 - 2017/9
N2 - Background Spinal cord injury (SCI) causes debilitating neurological dysfunction and has been observed in warfighters injured in IED blasts. Clinical benefit of SCI treatment remains elusive and better large animal models are needed to assess treatment options. Here, we describe a controlled electromagnetic spinal cord impactor for use in large animal models of SCI. Methods A custom spinal cord impactor and platform were fabricated for large animals (e.g., pig, sheep, dog, etc.). Impacts were generated by a voice coil actuator; force and displacement were measured with a load cell and potentiometer respectively. Labview (National Instruments, Austin, TX) software was used to control the impact cycle and import force and displacement data. Software finite impulse response (FIR) filtering was employed for all input data. Silicon tubing was used a surrogate for spinal cord in order to test the device; repeated impacts were performed at 15, 25, and 40 Newtons. Results Repeated impacts demonstrated predictable results at each target force. The average duration of impact was 71.2 ± 6.1 ms. At a target force of 40 N, the output force was 41.5 ± 0.7 N. With a target of 25 N, the output force was 23.5 ± 0.6 N; a target of 15 Newtons revealed an output force of 15.2 ± 1.4 N. The calculated acceleration range was 12.5–21.2 m/s2. Conclusions This custom spinal cord impactor reliably delivers precise impacts to the spinal cord and will be utilized in future research to study acute traumatic SCI in a large animal.
AB - Background Spinal cord injury (SCI) causes debilitating neurological dysfunction and has been observed in warfighters injured in IED blasts. Clinical benefit of SCI treatment remains elusive and better large animal models are needed to assess treatment options. Here, we describe a controlled electromagnetic spinal cord impactor for use in large animal models of SCI. Methods A custom spinal cord impactor and platform were fabricated for large animals (e.g., pig, sheep, dog, etc.). Impacts were generated by a voice coil actuator; force and displacement were measured with a load cell and potentiometer respectively. Labview (National Instruments, Austin, TX) software was used to control the impact cycle and import force and displacement data. Software finite impulse response (FIR) filtering was employed for all input data. Silicon tubing was used a surrogate for spinal cord in order to test the device; repeated impacts were performed at 15, 25, and 40 Newtons. Results Repeated impacts demonstrated predictable results at each target force. The average duration of impact was 71.2 ± 6.1 ms. At a target force of 40 N, the output force was 41.5 ± 0.7 N. With a target of 25 N, the output force was 23.5 ± 0.6 N; a target of 15 Newtons revealed an output force of 15.2 ± 1.4 N. The calculated acceleration range was 12.5–21.2 m/s2. Conclusions This custom spinal cord impactor reliably delivers precise impacts to the spinal cord and will be utilized in future research to study acute traumatic SCI in a large animal.
KW - Animal model
KW - Large animal research
KW - Spinal cord impactor
KW - Spinal cord injury
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jocn.2017.04.031
DO - 10.1016/j.jocn.2017.04.031
M3 - Article
C2 - 28539210
AN - SCOPUS:85019941866
SN - 0967-5868
VL - 43
SP - 229
EP - 234
JO - Journal of Clinical Neuroscience
JF - Journal of Clinical Neuroscience
ER -