Abstract
The past ten years have witnessed the introduction of several new methods for chronic recording of electrical activity in peripheral nerves, single nerve fibers and muscles, and for monitoring mechanical events correlated with muscular action. Although these methods were developed as research tools in the study of movements of unrestrained, intact animals, such implantable interfaces with nerve and muscle also promise to be of value in clinical applications; some novel clinical efforts are already being pursued. A review is given of various new techniques that may be clinically applicable and the issues of surgical constraints, quality of signal isolation, and long-term reliability of implantable devices, which ultimately determine the usefulness of each method, are discussed. Experimental devices reviewed include nerve cuff electrodes, floating single-unit electrodes, EMG electrodes, length gauges, and force gauges. General considerations for potential clinical applications are then given.
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Hoffer, J.A., Loeb, G.E. Implantable electrical and mechanical interfaces with nerve and muscle. Ann Biomed Eng 8, 351–360 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02363438
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02363438