A study of reception with the use of focused ultrasound. II. Effects on the animal receptor structures
Leonid R. Gavrilov, Grigoryi V. Gersuni, Oleg B. Ilyinsky, Efim M. Tsirulnikov, Eugenyi E. Shchekanov
Brain Research 1977, 135, 279-285 · 10.1016/0006-8993(77)91031-9
Abstract
The possibility of stimulation of receptor structures with focused ultrasound (focused beam of high frequency mechanical waves) was investigated. Stimulation of single Pacinian corpuscle isolated from cat's mesentery resulted in receptor and action potentials. Stimulation of frog's ear labyrinth resulted in evoked potentials recorded from midbrain auditory area, their characteristics being much the same as those for responses to adequate sound stimuli. It is concluded that focused ultrasound is an advantageous agent for stimulation of various mechanoreceptors both isolated and, especially, located deep in the body. Some problems related to sensory specificity are discussed.
Abstract via europepmc.
Exposures
Exposure 1: Isolated Pacinian corpuscle (cat mesentery)
Target: other — “isolated Pacinian corpuscle with attached nerve fibre, from cat mesentery”
Device: custom-built
| Waveform | continuous | |
|---|---|---|
| Fundamental frequency (kHz) | 480 | ✓✓✓ |
| Pulse duration (ms) | not applicable | |
| Pulse repetition frequency (Hz) | not applicable | |
| Duty cycle (%) | not applicable | |
| Sonication duration (s) | 0.0001, 0.001swept | ✓✓✓⚑ |
| Free-field pressure (kPa) | not reported | |
|---|---|---|
| Free-field Isppa (W/cm²) | not reported | |
| Free-field Ispta (W/cm²) | not reported | |
| In-situ estimate | not applicable | |
| In-situ pressure (kPa) | not applicable | |
| In-situ Isppa (W/cm²) | not applicable | |
| In-situ Ispta (W/cm²) | not applicable | |
| Isppa, domain unspecified (W/cm²) | 0.4, 2.5swept | ✓✓✓ |
An isolated Pacinian corpuscle with its nerve fibre attached was placed in vaseline oil over the ultrasonic irradiator, in the centre of the focal region; ultrasonic stimuli were rectangular bursts with duration from 0.1 msec to hundreds of msec, and receptor/action potentials were recorded via cotton-thread electrodes moistened with physiological solution.
Exposure 2: Frog's ear labyrinth, evoked potentials from contralateral midbrain auditory area
Target: vestibular organ — “frog's ear labyrinth (inner ear), recorded from the contralateral midbrain auditory area (torus semicircularis)”
Device: custom-built
| Waveform | continuous | |
|---|---|---|
| Fundamental frequency (kHz) | 480 | ✓✓✓ |
| Pulse duration (ms) | not applicable | |
| Pulse repetition frequency (Hz) | not applicable | |
| Duty cycle (%) | not applicable | |
| Sonication duration (s) | 0.001, 0.1swept | ✓✓✓ |
| Free-field pressure (kPa) | not reported | |
|---|---|---|
| Free-field Isppa (W/cm²) | not reported | |
| Free-field Ispta (W/cm²) | not reported | |
| In-situ estimate | not reported | |
| In-situ pressure (kPa) | not reported | |
| In-situ Isppa (W/cm²) | not reported | |
| In-situ Ispta (W/cm²) | not reported | |
| Isppa, domain unspecified (W/cm²) | 0.1, 1, 0.01, 0.1swept | ✓? |
An immobilised frog (left labyrinth destroyed) was fixed over the irradiator so the focal region projected into the right labyrinth, with water as the coupling medium; potentials were recorded from the contralateral (left) torus semicircularis with a tungsten microelectrode and compared with responses to sonic tone stimuli of optimal frequency.
Flags from extraction
exposures[0].timing.sonication_duration_s— Paper states burst durations ranged 'from 0.1 msec to hundreds msec' for both preparations; only the precise lower bound (0.1 ms) is recorded as a number, since 'hundreds' is not a specific value.exposures[1].target.terms— No target id in the taxonomy names the amphibian ear labyrinth specifically; 'vestibular_organ' is used as the closest anatomical match even though the structure is being tested here for its auditory (not vestibular) function.n_subjects— Paper does not state the number of Pacinian-corpuscle preparations or frogs used in the main text (a figure caption implies at least 3 frogs, but figures are not used as a source of values); left not_reported.