Individuals with cardiomyopathy are at higher risk to die from sudden cardiac arrest than those with non-failing (NF) hearts. This study examined the differences in electrical properties of failing and NF human hearts in terms of cardiac memory through explicit control of diastolic intervals in a sinusoidal fashion, restitution of action potential duration (APD) through standard and dynamic pacing protocols, maximum rate of depolarization and APD alternans. Recordings of transmembrane potentials were made in tissues extracted from patients with heart failure and one donor NF heart. Computational simulations were performed using the O’Hara Rudy model for generating surrogates of control data. Significant differences were seen between left ventricular (LV) tissue and NF LV tissue in tilt, and measures of memory in terms of area and thickness during the sinusoidal 400ms protocol. Minimum delay was also significantly higher in the failing LV during the sinusoidal 150ms protocol. Failing tissues showed a higher restitution slope and prolonged AP which is consistent with previous studies and is hypothesized to contribute to the increased susceptibility to unstable alternans. This study further explored how disease alters the electrical functioning of the heart and why these patients are at a higher risk of ventricular arrhythmia.

<p>Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an established surgical therapy for movement disorders. The mechanisms of action of DBS remain unclear, and selection of stimulation parameters is a clinical challenge and can result in sub-optimal outcomes. Closed-loop DBS systems would use a feedback control signal for automatic adjustment of DBS parameters and improved therapeutic effectiveness. We hypothesized that evoked compound action potentials (ECAPs), generated by activated neurons in the vicinity of the stimulating electrode, would reveal the type and spatial extent of neural activation, as well as provide signatures of clinical effectiveness. The objective of this dissertation was to record and characterize the ECAP during DBS to determine its suitability as a feedback signal in closed-loop systems. The ECAP was investigated using computer simulation and <italic>in vivo</italic> experiments, including the first preclinical and clinical ECAP recordings made from the same DBS electrode implanted for stimulation. </p><p>First, we developed DBS-ECAP recording instrumentation to reduce the stimulus artifact and enable high fidelity measurements of the ECAP at short latency. <italic>In vitro</italic> and <italic>in vivo</italic> validation experiments demonstrated the capability of the instrumentation to suppress the stimulus artifact, increase amplifier gain, and reduce distortion of short latency ECAP signals.</p><p>Second, we characterized ECAPs measured during thalamic DBS across stimulation parameters in anesthetized cats, and determined the neural origin of the ECAP using pharmacological interventions and a computer-based biophysical model of a thalamic network. This model simulated the ECAP response generated by a population of thalamic neurons, calculated ECAPs similar to experimental recordings, and indicated the relative contribution from different types of neural elements to the composite ECAP. Signal energy of the ECAP increased with DBS amplitude or pulse width, reflecting an increased extent of activation. Shorter latency, primary ECAP phases were generated by direct excitation of neural elements, whereas longer latency, secondary phases were generated by post-synaptic activation.</p><p>Third, intraoperative studies were conducted in human subjects with thalamic DBS for tremor, and the ECAP and tremor responses were measured across stimulation parameters. ECAP recording was technically challenging due to the presence of a wide range of stimulus artifact magnitudes across subjects, and an electrical circuit equivalent model and finite element method model both suggested that glial encapsulation around the DBS electrode increased the artifact size. Nevertheless, high fidelity ECAPs were recorded from acutely and chronically implanted DBS electrodes, and the energy of ECAP phases was correlated with changes in tremor. </p><p>Fourth, we used a computational model to understand how electrode design parameters influenced neural recording. Reducing the diameter or length of recording contacts increased the magnitude of single-unit responses, led to greater spatial sensitivity, and changed the relative contribution from local cells or passing axons. The effect of diameter or contact length varied across phases of population ECAPs, but ECAP signal energy increased with greater contact spacing, due to changes in the spatial sensitivity of the contacts. In addition, the signal increased with glial encapsulation in the peri-electrode space, decreased with local edema, and was unaffected by the physical presence of the highly conductive recording contacts.</p><p>It is feasible to record ECAP signals during DBS, and the correlation between ECAP characteristics and tremor suggests that this signal could be used in closed-loop DBS. This was demonstrated by implementation in simulation of a closed-loop system, in which a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller automatically adjusted DBS parameters to obtain a target ECAP energy value, and modified parameters in response to disturbances. The ECAP also provided insight into neural activation during DBS, with the dominant contribution to clinical ECAPs derived from excited cerebellothalamic fibers, suggesting that activation of these fibers is critical for DBS therapy.</p> / Dissertation

The aim of this work was to compile a comprehensive list of methods that deal with the research of voltage on the cell membrane. The work should help in orientation in these methods, as well as understanding of their physical and biological principle. In the first part is analysis of physical properties of membrane potential; in the second part are the most important methods for measuring membrane potential. Very important is the comparison of these methods in terms of their focus, localization, physical demands or in terms degree of damage of object under examination.

abstract: Recent new experiments showed that wide-field imaging at millimeter scale is capable of recording hundreds of neurons in behaving mice brain. Monitoring hundreds of individual neurons at a high frame rate provides a promising tool for discovering spatiotemporal features of large neural networks. However, processing the massive data sets is impossible without automated procedures. Thus, this thesis aims at developing a new tool to automatically segment and track individual neuron cells. The new method used in this study employs two major ideas including feature extraction based on power spectral density of single neuron temporal activity and clustering tree to separate overlapping cells. To address issues associated with high-resolution imaging of a large recording area, focused areas and out-of-focus areas were analyzed separately. A static segmentation with a fixed PSD thresholding method is applied to within focus visual field. A dynamic segmentation by comparing maximum PSD with surrounding pixels is applied to out-of-focus area. Both approaches helped remove irrelevant pixels in the background. After detection of potential single cells, some of which appeared in groups due to overlapping cells in the image, a hierarchical clustering algorithm is applied to separate them. The hierarchical clustering uses correlation coefficient as a distance measurement to group similar pixels into single cells. As such, overlapping cells can be separated. We tested the entire algorithm using two real recordings with the respective truth carefully determined by manual inspections. The results show high accuracy on tested datasets while false positive error is controlled within an acceptable range. Furthermore, results indicate robustness of the algorithm when applied to different image sequences. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Electrical Engineering 2016

Esta tese refere-se a pesquisa cujo o principal objetivo foi estudar os efeitos da sinalização elétrica sobre parâmetros fisiológicos de trocas gasosas e fluorescência da clorofila, bem como caracterizar e identificar rotas de propagação de sinais elétricos desencadeados por estímulos de queima em plantas de girassol. Os resultados obtidos a partir deste estudo demonstram que os sinais elétricos desencadeados por estímulo de queima podem ser classificados como potenciais de variação (PV). Estes sinais apresentaram maior facilidade de propagação no eixo vertical da planta atingindo folhas intactas que provavelmente possuem conexão vascular com a folha de estímulo. Apresentaram maior número de eventos de propagação na direção acrópeta da planta e foram incapazes de propagar-se lateralmente não atingindo folhas opostas à de estímulo. Nas folhas opostas onde não houve propagação de PVs foi registrada a ocorrência de hiperpolarização de membranas característica de potencial sistêmico (PS). Quanto aos efeitos fisiológicos do PV, observou-se que este promoveu redução na assimilação líquida de CO2 (A) que provavelmente está relacionada a inativação da fase não fotoquímica da fotossíntese, uma vez que, esteve acompanhada de queda da dissipação fotoquímica dos fotossistemas (qP) e da taxa de transporte de elétrons (ETR). Embora tenha sido registrada alterações na condutância estomática (gs), na concentração intercelular de CO2 (Ci), elevação da dissipação não fotoquímica (qN) e queda na eficiência quântica efetiva do fotossistema II (&Phi;FSII), estes não foram responsáveis pela queda de A, uma vez que, foram registrados posteriormente a sua redução. / This thesis mainly aimed to study the effects of electrical signaling on physiological parameters of gas exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence, and to characterize and identify route propagation of electrical signals triggered by burning stimuli in sunflower plants. The results from this study demonstrate that the electrical signals triggered by burning stimulus can be classified as variation potentials (VP). These signals showed greater ease of propagation in the vertical axis of the plant, reaching intact leaves that are likely to have vascular connection with the stimulus leaf. They presented greater ease of propagation in acropetal direction of the plant and are unable to spread laterally, not reaching leaves opposed to the stimulus. On opposed leaves, where there was no VPs propagation, it was recorded the occurrence of membrane hyperpolarization of systemic potential (PS). Concerning the physiological effects of PV, it was observed that this promoted a reduction in the liquid CO2 assimilation (A) which is probably related to the inactivation of non-photochemical phase of the photosynthesis, since it was accompanied by the decrease of the photochemical dissipation of the photosystems (qP) and the electron transport rate (ETR). Although changes were recorded in stomatal conductance (gs), CO2 intercellular concentration (Ci), increase of nonphotochemical dissipation (qN) and a decrease in the effective quantum efficiency of the photosystem II (&Phi; FSII) were not responsible for the A fall, since its reduction was subsequently reported.

Uma propriedade fundamental dos seres vivos é a condução de sinais elétricos através de seus tecidos. Mas esse fato pouco é lembrado quando se trata de organismos vegetais. Outro item fundamental é a geração de sinais que possam transmitir informações entre os tecidos e órgãos para um ajuste fino do metabolismo. Nas plantas esses sinais podem ser de natureza química, hidráulica e elétrica. Nesse último caso são conhecidos potenciais de ação (PA), de variação (PV), de ferimentos (WP) e sistêmicos (SP), cada um com sua particularidade quanto à amplitude, velocidade e rotas de propagação, bem como seu papel no metabolismo. Os sinais elétricos podem afetar a respiração, fotossíntese, absorção de água, ativação de genes e fechamento de folhas de plantas insetívoras. PAs podem se propagar com velocidade relativamente constante e sem decréscimo. Eles seguem a lei do tudo-ou-nada, ou seja, todo estímulo que desencadeia um PA deve atingir um limiar de excitação para desencadear o sinal. Assim que o limiar é atingido o sinal se autoperpetua ao passo que estímulos supra limiares desencadeiam PAs de amplitude constante. A via de propagação do PA é o vaso do floema. O objetivo do presente trabalho foi avaliar a sinalização elétrica em resposta à irrigação em plantas de girassol sob déficit hídrico e caracterizar esse sinal quanto à amplitude, duração, velocidade e direção de propagação. Para tanto 37 plantas foram avaliadas por meio de eletrodos extracelulares. Elas foram monitoras eletrofisiologicamente durante um período em que eram irrigadas e em um período sob déficit hídrico. Desse montante, onze responderam à irrigação pela geração de potenciais de ação (PA), ou seja, 30% delas. Oito delas geraram PAs em direção ao ápice (propagação acrópeta) enquanto duas geraram na direção basípeta. Uma delas gerou nos dois sentidos. O PA foi gerado também pós-irrigação mesmo com a planta não tendo passado por déficit hídrico, porém só aconteceu em uma das onze plantas. Os sinais se propagaram no caule, pecíolo e nervura central das folhas. O potencial de ação é gerado após irrigação em plantas de girassol com maior frequência quando elas passam por período de déficit hídrico e se propagam por toda a planta. Isso evidencia o papel do PA na sinalização de longa distância nos vegetais. / A fundamental property in the leaving beings is the conduction of electrical signals through their tissues. However, this fact is not always remembered when it comes to plant organisms. Another key process is the generation of signals that can transmit information among tissues and organs to a fine-tuning of the metabolism. In plants, these signals can be chemical, hydraulic and electrical. Concerning the last one, action potentials (AP), variation potentials (VP), wound potentials (WP) and system potentials (SP) are known; each one with its particularity regarding amplitude, velocity and propagation routes as well as its role in metabolism. The electrical signals may affect respiration, photosynthesis, water uptake, activation of genes and leaf closure in insectivorous plants. APs can spread with relatively constant speed and no decrement. They follow the all-or-nothing law, in another words, every stimulus that triggers an AP must reach a threshold to trigger the signal. Once the threshold is reached, the signal is self-perpetuating while stimuli above threshold trigger APs with constant amplitude. The propagation path of the AP is the phloem vessel. The aim of this work was to evaluate the electrical signaling in response to irrigation in sunflower plants under water deficit and characterize the AP regarding its amplitude, duration, velocity and propagation direction. Thirty seven plants were analyzed using extracellular electrodes. They were electrophysiologically monitored during a period when irrigated and in a period under drought. Eleven plants generated AP after irrigation, i.e. 30%. Eight of them generated AP that propagated acropetally while two generated in basipetal direction. One generated in both directions. The action potential was also generated in a plant that was not under drought stress, however it just happened in one of the eleven plants. The signals propagated in the stem, petiole and midrib of the leaves. The action potential is generated after irrigation in sunflower plants more frequently when they go through a period of water deficit and propagate throughout the plant. This highlights the role of AP in long-distance signaling in plants.

Cardiovascular diseases form one of the most dangerous events that affect human life. They are usually the result of high blood pressure. Thus controlling blood pressure within patient specific healthy limits is a goal that we must target. There are two control loops for blood haemostasis inside the body either long term or short term. Baroreceptors control the short term blood pressure regulation. They are nerve endings that exist in certain locations within the blood vessel walls and they report blood pressure into the brain and the central nervous system. However the basics of their function are not yet known. We propose here that the baroreceptors work by converting circumferential and axial pressure into a stress into their respective direction and they start to send nerve signals based on a threshold of strain energy of the location they are embedded in. Thus baroreceptors A fibre is highly likely to exist in the stiffer adventitia, while the media will contain C fibres. This explains the reason behind having identical fibres with different threshold. We were able to arrive to this solution by getting a relationship between stress–strain relationship for the whole wall and for the arterial vessels. These findings are quiet significant as they allow a method to identify different stress in the arterial wall layers using whole wall experimental data and also as they were able to differentiate between different fibres based on their locations inside the arterial wall. A complete modelling of the baroreceptors function might lead to the formation of biosynthetic material that could interact with the body on the cellular level, so as to give humans the mean to the control of short term blood regulation thus preventing hypertension and its accompanying diseases such as atherosclerosis.

No description available.

This project deals with anatomy and electrophysiology of heart. It describes the structure of cardiac muscle, mechanism of myocard's contraction, heart work, the origin and registration of electric signals of heart – electrocardiogram (ECG) and vectorcardiogram (VCG). Part of the work is design and creation of a software application for calculation and graphical presentation of vectorcardograms, useful for experimental data available on ÚBMI VUT in Brno.

In this master´s thesis we will firstly focused on the description of a cyte in terms of structure as well as in terms of electrical and chemical processes. We will examine a processes, which make a contraction and the processes on cyte membrane. We will also analyse image processing methods and methods for measuring the contraction. The block diagram will be designed and requirements for the measuring platform will be specified. The programme will be realized in LabWIEV programming language.