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Laser stimulation for pain research
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Clark, Stuart, Dickinson, Mark R. , King, Terence A., Jones, A. (Anthony), Chen, Andrew, Derbyshire, Stuart, Townsend, David W., Ph.D., Kinahan, Paul E. , Mintun, Mark A. and Nichols, Thomas E. (1995) Laser stimulation for pain research. In: Biomedical Optoelectronics in Clinical Chemistry and Biotechnology, Barcelona, Spain, 12 September 1995. Published in: Proceedings of SPIE - International Society for Optical Engineering, Vol.197 pp. 197-205. ISSN 0277-786X. doi:10.1117/12.229532
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/12.229532
Abstract
Pain is a serious medical problem; it inflicts huge economic loss and personal suffering. Pain signals are conducted via small, non- and partially myelinated A-delta and C nerve fibers and lasers are particularly well suited to stimulating these fibers. Large myelinated fibers convey touch and vibration information and these fibers are also discharged when contact thermodes and other touch pain stimuli are used and this would give a more muddled signal for functional imaging experiments. The advantages of lasers over conventional methods of pain stimulation are good temporal resolution, no variable parameters are involved such as contact area and they give very reproducible results. Accurate inter-stimulus changes can be achieved by computer control of the laser pulse duration, pulse height and repetition rate and this flexibility enables complex stimulation paradigms to be realized. We present a flexible carbon dioxide laser system designed to generate these stimuli for the study of human cerebral pain responses. We discuss the advantages within research of this system over other methods of pain stimulation such as thermal, electrical and magnetic. The stimulator is used in conjunction with functional magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography and electrophysiological methods of imaging the brain's activity. This combination is a powerful tool for the study of pain-induced activity in different areas of the brain. An accurate understanding of the brain's response to pain will help in research into the areas of rheumatoid arthritis and chronic back pain.
| Item Type: | Conference Item (Paper) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subjects: | R Medicine > R Medicine (General) R Medicine > RB Pathology |
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| Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Statistics | ||||
| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Pain -- Treatment -- Research, Lasers in medicine, Pain -- Research | ||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Proceedings of SPIE - International Society for Optical Engineering | ||||
| Publisher: | S P I E - International Society for Optical Engineering | ||||
| ISSN: | 0277-786X | ||||
| Official Date: | 12 September 1995 | ||||
| Dates: |
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| Volume: | Vol.197 | ||||
| Page Range: | pp. 197-205 | ||||
| DOI: | 10.1117/12.229532 | ||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||
| Publication Status: | Published | ||||
| Conference Paper Type: | Paper | ||||
| Title of Event: | Biomedical Optoelectronics in Clinical Chemistry and Biotechnology | ||||
| Type of Event: | Conference | ||||
| Location of Event: | Barcelona, Spain | ||||
| Date(s) of Event: | 12 September 1995 |
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