Preventive and Therapeutic Effects of Low-Intensity Ultrasound Stimulation on Migraine in Rats
Leiqiang Yao, Rong Chen, Hui Ji, Xingran Wang, Xiangjian Zhang, Yi Yuan
IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering 2022 · 10.1109/tnsre.2022.3199813
Abstract
This study sought to systematically evaluate the prophylactic and therapeutic effects of low-intensity transcranial ultrasound stimulation on migraine in rats. We used video recordings to assess the head scratching behavior and laser speckle contrast imaging to record the changes in cerebral blood flow velocity of freely moving rats in a healthy group, migraine group, migraine group with ultrasound prevention, and migraine group with ultrasound therapy. Results demonstrated that (1) head scratching during migraine attacks in rats was accompanied by an decrease in cerebral blood flow; (2) both ultrasound prevention and therapy significantly reduced the number of head scratches but did not reduce the cerebral blood flow velocity; and (3) the number of head scratches in the ultrasound stimulation groups was not affected by the auditory effect. These results reveal that low-intensity ultrasound has the potential to be used clinically in the prevention and therapeutic treatment of migraine.
Abstract via europepmc.
Exposures
Exposure 1: whole-brain TUS, prevention and therapy groups
Target: whole brain or unfocused — “the whole rat brain was stimulated by ultrasound and there were no specific brain targets”
Device: Olympus / Panametrics · Olympus, USA · V323-SU ✓
| Waveform | pulsed | |
|---|---|---|
| Fundamental frequency (kHz) | 500 | ✓✓✓ |
| Pulse duration (ms) | not reportedimplied by duty cycle ÷ PRF: 0.5 ms (not stated by the paper) | ⚑ |
| Pulse repetition frequency (Hz) | 1,000 | ✓✓✓⚑ |
| Duty cycle (%) | 50 | ✓✓✓⚑ |
| Sonication duration (s) | 0.4 | ✓✓✓⚑ |
| 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 | |
| Pressure, domain unspecified (kPa) | 500 | ✓✓✓⚑ |
| Isppa, domain unspecified (W/cm²) | 8.3 | ✓✓✓ |
Methods state 500 kHz, stimulation duration 400 ms, PRF 1 kHz and duty cycle 50%; the Fig. 1 legend and Discussion state SD 15 min, PRF 1 Hz and duty cycle 5%. TUS for 15 min given either before (Pre) or after (The) subcutaneous nitroglycerin; burst/pulse duration cannot be resolved.
Flags from extraction
exposures[0].timing.duty_cycle_pct— Methods text gives 400 ms / 1 kHz / 50% while the Fig. 1 legend and Discussion give 15 min / 1 Hz / 5%; the Methods values are recorded for PRF and duty cycle.exposures[0].timing.pulse_repetition_frequency_hz— Conflicts with the 1 Hz PRF in the Fig. 1 legend and Discussion; Methods value 1 kHz recorded.exposures[0].timing.sonication_duration_s— 15 min (900 s) from the group description; Methods parameter sentence instead gives 'stimulation duration' 400 ms.exposures[0].timing.pulse_duration_ms— Burst rule unresolved because the two parameter sets disagree; left not_reported.exposures[0].unspecified_domain.pressure_kpa— Reported as peak-to-peak pressure of 0.5 MPa (converted to 500 kPa); domain not stated although a hydrophone was used under the skull for field mapping.n_subjects— 56 is the total rats used, including 14 untreated control and migraine-only animals that received no ultrasound; ultrasound groups had 7, 7, 7, 7, 5 and 5 rats, with groups 5-6 receiving ultrasound near the ear.sham_type— Sham-1 groups: ultrasound applied close to the ear but not through brain tissue; Sham-2 groups: same mode as real TUS in deafened rats; migraine group received no ultrasound.exposures[0].target— Paper states the whole brain was stimulated with no specific target.