Low-Cost Electroencephalographic Recording System Combined with a Millimeter-Sized Coil to Transcranially Stimulate the Mouse Brain In Vivo

Summary

A low-cost electroencephalographic recording system combined with a millimeter-sized coil is proposed to drive transcranial magnetic stimulation of the mouse brain in vivo. Using conventional screw electrodes with a custom-made, flexible, multielectrode array substrate, multi-site recording can be carried out from the mouse brain in response to transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Abstract

A low-cost electroencephalographic (EEG) recording system is proposed here to drive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the mouse brain in vivo, utilizing a millimeter-sized coil. Using conventional screw electrodes combined with a custom-made, flexible, multielectrode array substrate, multi-site recording can be carried out from the mouse brain. In addition, we explain how a millimeter-sized coil is produced using low-cost equipment usually found in laboratories. Practical procedures for fabricating the flexible multielectrode array substrate and the surgical implantation technique for screw electrodes are also presented, which are necessary to produce low-noise EEG signals. Although the methodology is useful for recording from the brain of any small animal, the present report focuses on electrode implementation in an anesthetized mouse skull. Furthermore, this method can be easily extended to an awake small animal that is connected with tethered cables via a common adapter and fixed with a TMS device to the head during recording.The present version of the EEG-TMS system, which can include a maximum of 32 EEG channels (a device with 16 channels is presented as an example with fewer channels) and one TMS channel device, is described. Additionally, typical results obtained by the application of the EEG-TMS system to anesthetized mice are briefly reported.

Introduction

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a promising tool for human brain science, clinical application, and animal model research because of its non-/low invasiveness. During the early stage of TMS applications, measurement of the cortical effect in response to single- and paired-pulse TMS in humans and animals was restricted to the motor cortex; easily measurable output was limited to motor evoked potentials and induced myoelectric potentials involving the motor cortex^1,2. To expand the brain regions that can be measured by TMS modulation, electroencephalographic (EEG) recording was integrated with single-....

Protocol

In the present study, all animal experiments were performed following the National Institutes of Health Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and with approval from the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Hokkaido University. C57BL/6J mice, two male and three female, 8 to 10 weeks old, were used for the present study. This is a terminal procedure. The animals were obtained from a commercial source (see Table of Materials).

1. Flexible two-dimensional array design and construction

1. Prepare the required number of miniature screw electrodes (stainless, SUS XM7; see Tabl....

Results

Sample EEG data recorded in anesthetized C57BL/6J mice with the flexible substrate combined with the screw electrodes are presented below.

As a typical example, the average EEG waveforms generated in response to sound stimulation (8 kHz tone-burst, 80 dB sound pressure level [SPL]) are shown for 60 trials with identical stimuli (Figure 4A). A schematic of recording channel mapping is also presented in the middle of Figure 4A. The resp.......

Discussion

This study addresses a multi-site EEG recording system combined with a magnetic stimulation system designed for small animals, including mice. The constructed system is low-cost and easily constructed in physiological laboratories, and can extend their existing measurement setups. The surgical procedure necessary to obtain data from the mouse recording system is profoundly simple if such laboratories have previous experience with standard electrophysiological experiments.

One advantage of usin.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
3D printer	Zhejiang Flashforge 3D Technology Co., Ltd	FFD-101	The printer used for 3D-printing the donut-shaped disks
ATROPINE SULFATE  0.5 mg	NIPRO ES PHARMA CO., LTD.	-	Atropine sulfate
Bipolar amplifier	NF Corp.	KIT61380	For amplifying waveforms for coil input
Butorphanol	Meiji Seika Pharma Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan	-	For anathesis of animals
Commercial manufacturer of flexible 2D array	p-ban.com Corp.	-	URL: https://www.p-ban.com/
Computer prograom to analyze output signals	Natinal Instruments	NI-DAQ and  NI-DAQmx Python	To analyze output signals from the hall-effect sensor
Connector	Harwin Inc.	G125-FV12005L0P	For connector to conect to the measuring system
Copper pad	p-ban.com Corp.	copper	Copper pad on each substrate
Copper wire	Kyowa Harmonet Ltd.	P644432	The windings of the coil
DAQ board	National Instruments Corp.	USB-6343	For measuring the magnitic flux density of the coil
Dental cement	SHOFU INC.	Quick Resin	Self-Curing Orthodontic Resin
ECoG electrode	NeuroNexus Inc.	HC32	For reference to design of the flexible 2D array
Epoxy resin	Konishi Co. Ltd.	#16123	For coil construction
Ethyl Carbamate	FUJIFILM Wako Pure Chemical Corp.	050-05821	For urethan anesthesia
Flat ribbon cable	Oki Electric Cable Co., Ltd.	FLEX-B2(20)-7/0.1 20028 5m	For cable to connect between surface-mount connector and measuring sysytem
flexible substrate	p-ban.com Corp.	polyimide	Baseplate of flexible substrate
Function generator	NF Corp.	WF1947	For generating waveforms for coil input
Hall-effect sensor	Honeywell International Inc.	SS94A2D	For measuring the magnitic flux density of the coil
IDC crimping tool	Pro'sKit Industries Co.	6PK-214	To crimp the IDC and one end of the flat ribbon cable; Flat cable connector crimping tool
Instant glue	Konishi Co. Ltd.	#04612	For coil construction
Insulation-displacement connector (IDC )	Uxcell Japan	B07GDDG3XG	2 × 10 pins and a 1.27 mm pitch
LCR meter	NF Corp.	ZM2376	For measuring the AC properties of the coil
Manipulator	NARISHIGE Group.	SM-15L	For manipulating the coil
Medetomidine	Kobayashi Kako, Fukui, Japan	-	For anathesis of animals
Midazolam	Astellas Pharma, Tokyo, Japan	-	For anathesis of animals
Miniature screw	KOFUSEIBYO Co., Ltd.	S0.6*1.5	For EEG-senseing and reference electrode
Mouse	Japan SLC, Inc.	C57BL/6J (C57BL/6JJmsSlc)	Experimental animal
Permalloy-45 rod	The Nilaco Corp.	780544	The core of the coil
Recording system	Plexon Inc.	OmniPlex	For EEG data acquisition
Stainless wire	Wakisangyo Co., Ltd.	HW-136	For grasp by manipulator
Stereotaxic apparatus	NARISHIGE Group.	SR-5M-HT	To fix a mouse head
Surface-mount connector	Useconn Electronics Ltd.	PH127-2x10MG	For connector to mount on the flexible 2D array
Testing equipment (LCR meter)	NF Corp.	ZM2372	Contact check and impedance measurements
White PLA filament	Zhejiang Flashforge 3D Technology Co., Ltd	PLA-F13	The material used for 3D-printing the donut-shaped disks
Xylocaine Jelly 2%	Sandoz Pharma Co., Ltd.	-	lidocaine hydrochloride