RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 High-density spinal cord stimulation selectively activates lower urinary tract afferents
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2021.04.30.442206
DO 10.1101/2021.04.30.442206
A1 Maria K Jantz
A1 Chaitanya Gopinath
A1 Ritesh Kumar
A1 Celine Chin
A1 Liane Wong
A1 John I Ogren
A1 Lee E Fisher
A1 Bryan L McLaughlin
A1 Robert A Gaunt
YR 2021
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/05/01/2021.04.30.442206.abstract
AB Epidural spinal cord stimulation (SCS) has recently been reported as a potential intervention to improve limb and autonomic functions, with lumbar stimulation improving locomotion and thoracic stimulation regulating blood pressure. We asked whether sacral SCS could be used to target the lower urinary tract. Here we show that high-density epidural SCS over the sacral spinal cord and cauda equina of anesthetized cats evokes responses in nerves innervating the bladder and urethra and that these nerves can be activated selectively. Sacral epidural SCS always recruited the pelvic and pudendal nerves and selectively recruited these nerves in all but one animal. Individual branches of the pudendal nerve were always recruited as well. Electrodes that selectively recruited specific peripheral nerves were spatially clustered on the arrays, suggesting anatomically organized sensory pathways. This selective recruitment demonstrates a mechanism to directly modulate bladder and urethral function through known reflex pathways, which could be used to restore bladder and urethral function after injury or disease.Competing Interest StatementBLM, LW, CC, and JIO are employees of Micro-Leads Inc. who design and develop implantable electrodes. The other authors declare no competing interests.