The Impact of Sound on Electroencephalographic Waves during Sleep in Patients Suffering from Tinnitus.

Based on the knowledge that sensory processing continues during sleep and that a relationship exists between sleep and learning, a new strategy for treatment of idiopathic subjective tinnitus, consisted of customized sound stimulation presented during sleep, was tested. It has been previously shown that this treatment induces a sustained decrease in tinnitus intensity; however, its effect on brain activity has not yet been studied. In this work, we compared the impact of sound stimulation in tinnitus patients in the different sleep stages. Ten patients with idiopathic tinnitus were treated with sound stimulation mimicking tinnitus during sleep. Power spectra and intra- and inter-hemispheric coherence of electroencephalographic waves from frontal and temporal electrodes were measured with and without sound stimulation for each sleep stage (stages N2 with sleep spindles; N3 with slow wave sleep and REM sleep with Rapid Eye Movements). The main results found were that the largest number of changes, considering both the power spectrum and wave׳s coherence, occurred in stages N2 and N3. The delta and theta bands were the most changed, with important changes also in coherence of spindles during N2. All changes were more frequent in temporal areas. The differences between the two hemispheres do not depend, at least exclusively, on the side where the tinnitus is perceived and, hence, of the stimulated side. These results demonstrate that sound stimulation during sleep in tinnitus patients׳ influences brain activity and open an avenue for investigating the mechanism underlying tinnitus and its treatment.

Similarities of arterial collagen pressure-diameter relationship in ovine femoral arteries and PLLA vascular grafts.

INTRODUCTION: In-vivo implanted vascular grafts fail due to the mechanical mismatch between the native vessel and the implant. The biomechanical characterization of native vessels provides valuable information towards the development of synthetic grafts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Five samples of electrospun nanofibrous poly(L-lactic acid)(PLLA) tubular structures were subjected to physiological pulsating pressure using an experimental setup. Four ovine femoral arteries were also tested in the experimental setup under the same conditions. Instantaneous diameter and pressure signals were obtained using gold standard techniques, in order to estimate the dynamic pressure-strain elastic modulus (E(Pε)) of both native vessels and grafts. RESULTS: Synthetic grafts showed a significant increase of E(Pε) (10.57±0.97 to 17.63±2.61 10(6) dyn/cm(2)) when pressure was increased from a range of 50-90 mmHg (elastin-response range) to a range of 100-130 mmHg (collagen-response range). Furthermore, femoral arteries also exhibited a significant increase of EPε (1.66±0.30 to 15.76±4.78 10(6) dyn/cm(2)) with the same pressure variation, showing that both native vessels and synthetic grafts have a similar behavior in the collagen-acting range. CONCLUSION: The mechanical behavior of PLLA vascular grafts was characterized In vitro. However, the procedure can be easily extrapolated to In vivo experiences in conscious and chronically instrumented animals.

Optimal pulse shapes for magnetic stimulation of fibers: An analytical approach using the excitation functional.

An analytical approach to threshold problems in functional magnetic stimulation of nerve and skeletal muscle fibers was recently proposed, framed in the concept of excitation functional. Three generations of available equipments for magnetic stimulation are briefly considered, stressing the corresponding pulse shape in the stimulation coils. Using the criterion of minimum energy dissipated in biological tissues, an optimal shape for a current pulse in the coil that produces a just threshold depolarization in a nerve or skeletal muscle fiber is found. The method can be further developed and applied to other threshold problems in functional electric stimulation.