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Home / Equine Research Bank / PLoS One / Functional electrical stimulation of intrinsic laryngeal mus...
PloS one2011; 6(8); e24258; doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0024258

Functional electrical stimulation of intrinsic laryngeal muscles under varying loads in exercising horses.

Abstract: Bilateral vocal fold paralysis (BVCP) is a life threatening condition and appears to be a good candidate for therapy using functional electrical stimulation (FES). Developing a working FES system has been technically difficult due to the inaccessible location and small size of the sole arytenoid abductor, the posterior cricoarytenoid (PCA) muscle. A naturally-occurring disease in horses shares many functional and etiological features with BVCP. In this study, the feasibility of FES for equine vocal fold paralysis was explored by testing arytenoid abduction evoked by electrical stimulation of the PCA muscle. Rheobase and chronaxie were determined for innervated PCA muscle. We then tested the hypothesis that direct muscle stimulation can maintain airway patency during strenuous exercise in horses with induced transient conduction block of the laryngeal motor nerve. Six adult horses were instrumented with a single bipolar intra-muscular electrode in the left PCA muscle. Rheobase and chronaxie were within the normal range for innervated muscle at 0.55±0.38 v and 0.38±0.19 ms respectively. Intramuscular stimulation of the PCA muscle significantly improved arytenoid abduction at all levels of exercise intensity and there was no significant difference between the level of abduction achieved with stimulation and control values under moderate loads. The equine larynx may provide a useful model for the study of bilateral fold paralysis.
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Publication Date: 2011-08-31 PubMed ID: 21904620PubMed Central: PMC3164194DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0024258Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

The research article discusses an experimental approach to treating bilateral vocal fold paralysis (BVCP) in horses using functional electrical stimulation (FES). The scientists conducted a series of tests applying electrical stimulation directly to a horse’s laryngeal muscles to mitigate effects of a condition similar to BVCP.

Background of the Study

  • The study revolves around the idea of exploiting Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) as a prospective method to deal with Bilateral Vocal Fold Paralysis (BVCP), a dangerous condition.
  • The scientists note that setting up an effective FES system is fairly complex due to the inaccessible positioning and small dimensions of the posterior cricoarytenoid (PCA), the only arytenoid abductor muscle.
  • They draw parallels between a naturally-occurring disease in horses and BVCP, pointing out similar functional and etiological attributes.

Objectives and Methodology

  • The researchers set out to explore the accessibility of FES in treating equine vocal fold paralysis by examining arytenoid abduction induced by electrically stimulating the PCA muscle.
  • The research methodology involved establishing rheobase and chronaxie, two important electrical parameters, for innervated PCA muscles.
  • The researchers aimed to test the hypothesis that direct muscle stimulation could maintain airway openness during intense physical activity in horses, even with an induced transient conduction block of the laryngeal motor nerve.
  • In their experiments, six adult horses were equipped with a single bipolar intra-muscular electrode within the left PCA muscle.

Results and Conclusion

  • The researchers found that the chronaxie and rheobase established were within the average range for innervated muscle, at respective values of 0.55±0.38 v and 0.38±0.19 ms.
  • The application of intramuscular stimulation to the PCA muscle significantly increased arytenoid abduction at every level of exercise intensity.
  • Furthermore, the researchers concluded that there was no meaningful difference between the degree of abduction realized with stimulation and control values under moderate loads.
  • The study proposed that the equine larynx could be a beneficial model to explore bilateral fold paralysis further.

Cite This Article

APA
Cheetham J, Regner A, Jarvis JC, Priest D, Sanders I, Soderholm LV, Mitchell LM, Ducharme NG. (2011). Functional electrical stimulation of intrinsic laryngeal muscles under varying loads in exercising horses. PLoS One, 6(8), e24258. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0024258

Publication

PloS one
ISSN: 1932-6203
NlmUniqueID: 101285081
Country: United States
Language: English
Volume: 6
Issue: 8
Pages: e24258
PII: e24258

Researcher Affiliations

Cheetham, Jon
  • Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America. jc485@cornell.edu
Regner, Abby
    Jarvis, Jonathan C
      Priest, David
        Sanders, Ira
          Soderholm, Leo V
            Mitchell, Lisa M
              Ducharme, Norm G

                MeSH Terms

                • Animals
                • Electric Stimulation
                • Horses
                • Laryngeal Muscles / metabolism
                • Laryngeal Muscles / physiology
                • Physical Conditioning, Animal / physiology
                • Vocal Cord Paralysis / physiopathology

                Conflict of Interest Statement

                The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

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                Citations

                This article has been cited 1 times.
                1. Müller AH, Förster G. [Reinnervation and neurostimulation of the larynx].. HNO 2013 Feb;61(2):102-7.
                  doi: 10.1007/s00106-012-2518-xpubmed: 23241856google scholar: lookup
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