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Sanchez-Perez JA, Gazi AH, Rahman FN, Seith A, Saks G, Sundararaj S, Erbrick R, Harrison AB, Nichols CJ, Modak M, Chalumuri YR, Snow TK, Hahn JO, Inan OT. Transcutaneous auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation and Median Nerve Stimulation reduce acute stress in young healthy adults: a single-blind sham-controlled crossover study. Front Neurosci 2023; 17:1213982. [PMID: 37746156 PMCID: PMC10512834 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1213982] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2023] [Accepted: 08/18/2023] [Indexed: 09/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Stress is a major determinant of health and wellbeing. Conventional stress management approaches do not account for the daily-living acute changes in stress that affect quality of life. The combination of physiological monitoring and non-invasive Peripheral Nerve Stimulation (PNS) represents a promising technological approach to quantify stress-induced physiological manifestations and reduce stress during everyday life. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of three well-established transcutaneous PNS modalities in reducing physiological manifestations of stress compared to a sham: auricular and cervical Vagus Nerve Stimulation (taVNS and tcVNS), and Median Nerve Stimulation (tMNS). Using a single-blind sham-controlled crossover study with four visits, we compared the stress mitigation effectiveness of taVNS, tcVNS, and tMNS, quantified through physiological markers derived from five physiological signals peripherally measured on 19 young healthy volunteers. Participants underwent three acute mental and physiological stressors while receiving stimulation. Blinding effectiveness was assessed via subjective survey. taVNS and tMNS relative to sham resulted in significant changes that suggest a reduction in sympathetic outflow following the acute stressors: Left Ventricular Ejection Time Index (LVETI) shortening (tMNS: p = 0.007, taVNS: p = 0.015) and Pre-Ejection Period (PEP)-to-LVET ratio (PEP/LVET) increase (tMNS: p = 0.044, taVNS: p = 0.029). tMNS relative to sham also reduced Pulse Pressure (PP; p = 0.032) and tonic EDA activity (tonicMean; p = 0.025). The nonsignificant blinding survey results suggest these effects were not influenced by placebo. taVNS and tMNS effectively reduced stress-induced sympathetic arousal in wearable-compatible physiological signals, motivating their future use in novel personalized stress therapies to improve quality of life.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Asim H. Gazi
- School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Farhan N. Rahman
- School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Alexis Seith
- Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Georgia Saks
- Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | | | - Rachel Erbrick
- School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Anna B. Harrison
- School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Christopher J. Nichols
- School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Mihir Modak
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States
| | - Yekanth R. Chalumuri
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States
| | - Teresa K. Snow
- School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Jin-Oh Hahn
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States
| | - Omer T. Inan
- School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States
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Bremner JD, Gazi AH, Lambert TP, Nawar A, Harrison AB, Welsh JW, Vaccarino V, Walton KM, Jaquemet N, Mermin-Bunnell K, Mesfin H, Gray TA, Ross K, Saks G, Tomic N, Affadzi D, Bikson M, Shah AJ, Dunn KE, Giordano NA, Inan OT. Noninvasive Vagal Nerve Stimulation for Opioid Use Disorder. ANNALS OF DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY 2023; 10:1117. [PMID: 38074313 PMCID: PMC10699253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2024]
Abstract
Background Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) is an escalating public health problem with over 100,000 drug overdose-related deaths last year most of them related to opioid overdose, yet treatment options remain limited. Non-invasive Vagal Nerve Stimulation (nVNS) can be delivered via the ear or the neck and is a non-medication alternative to treatment of opioid withdrawal and OUD with potentially widespread applications. Methods This paper reviews the neurobiology of opioid withdrawal and OUD and the emerging literature of nVNS for the application of OUD. Literature databases for Pubmed, Psychinfo, and Medline were queried for these topics for 1982-present. Results Opioid withdrawal in the context of OUD is associated with activation of peripheral sympathetic and inflammatory systems as well as alterations in central brain regions including anterior cingulate, basal ganglia, and amygdala. NVNS has the potential to reduce sympathetic and inflammatory activation and counter the effects of opioid withdrawal in initial pilot studies. Preliminary studies show that it is potentially effective at acting through sympathetic pathways to reduce the effects of opioid withdrawal, in addition to reducing pain and distress. Conclusions NVNS shows promise as a non-medication approach to OUD, both in terms of its known effect on neurobiology as well as pilot data showing a reduction in withdrawal symptoms as well as physiological manifestations of opioid withdrawal.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Douglas Bremner
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta GA
- Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta GA
- Atlanta Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, Decatur GA
| | - Asim H Gazi
- School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA
| | - Tamara P Lambert
- Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA
| | - Afra Nawar
- School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA
| | - Anna B Harrison
- School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA
| | - Justine W Welsh
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta GA
| | - Viola Vaccarino
- Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
- Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta GA
| | - Kevin M Walton
- Clinical Research Grants Branch, Division of Therapeutics and Medical Consequences, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Bethesda, MD
| | - Nora Jaquemet
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta GA
| | - Kellen Mermin-Bunnell
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta GA
| | - Hewitt Mesfin
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta GA
| | - Trinity A Gray
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta GA
| | - Keyatta Ross
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta GA
| | - Georgia Saks
- Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA
| | - Nikolina Tomic
- School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA
| | - Danner Affadzi
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta GA
| | - Marom Bikson
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The City College of New York, New York, NY
| | - Amit J Shah
- Atlanta Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, Decatur GA
- Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
- Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta GA
| | - Kelly E Dunn
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore MD
| | | | - Omer T Inan
- School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA
- Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA
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Gazi AH, Sanchez-Perez JA, Natarajan S, Chan M, Nikbakht M, Lin DJ, Douglas Bremner J, Hahn JO, Inan OT, Rozell CJ. Leveraging Physiological Markers to Quantify the Transient Effects of Traumatic Stress and Non-Invasive Neuromodulation . ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE IEEE ENGINEERING IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY SOCIETY. IEEE ENGINEERING IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY SOCIETY. ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 2023; 2023:1-4. [PMID: 38083108 DOI: 10.1109/embc40787.2023.10340053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2023]
Abstract
Millions around the world suffer from traumatic stress (stress caused by traumatic memories). Transcutaneous cervical vagus nerve stimulation (tcVNS) has been shown to counteract physiological changes associated with traumatic stress. However, little is known regarding the approximate timecourse of tcVNS effects. This knowledge of how quickly tcVNS takes effect is needed to optimize closed-loop tcVNS systems that can mitigate traumatic stress in a timely manner. To address this gap, we studied N=26 participants with history of prior trauma. Participants wore electrocardiogram, photoplethysmogram, seismocardiogram, and respiratory effort sensors throughout a double-blind protocol involving traumatic stress and active tcVNS (n=12) or sham stimulation (n=14). From the physiological signals, we extracted cardiovascular and respiratory markers and studied their dynamics during the traumatic stress and stimulation conditions. We decoupled the short-term transient responses from longer-term cumulative changes by centering each condition's response with respect to data immediately prior to the condition. We thereby elucidate a diverse set of transient physiological responses to tcVNS and traumatic stress. These responses demonstrate that tcVNS-induced changes occur within seconds and have the potential to reduce acute physiological manifestations of traumatic stress.Clinical relevance- Traumatic stress can overpower an individual within seconds and often occurs outside the clinic. This analysis focuses on transient physiological responses to traumatic memories and tcVNS captured using multimodal physiological sensing. We demonstrate that tcVNS-induced changes occur within seconds and have the potential to mitigate some of the short-term effects of traumatic stress.
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Gazi AH, Jung H, Kimball JP, Inan OT. Improving Respiratory Timing Estimation Using Quality Indexing and Electrocardiogram-Derived Respiration. ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE IEEE ENGINEERING IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY SOCIETY. IEEE ENGINEERING IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY SOCIETY. ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 2022; 2022:3249-3252. [PMID: 36086511 DOI: 10.1109/embc48229.2022.9871873] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Numerous applications require accurate estimation of respiratory timings. Respiratory effort (RSP) measurement is a popular approach to accomplish this, especially when the tightness of the sensing belt around the chest can be ensured. In less controlled settings, however, belt looseness and artifacts from movement of the belt on the chest can corrupt the signal. This paper demonstrates that respiration quality indexing and outlier removal can help mitigate these issues, improving estimates of respiration rate (RR), inspiration time (Ti), and expiration time (Te)., In a sample of 15 healthy human participants undergoing a protocol of five controlled breathing exercises in four postures each, electrocardiogram (ECG) and RSP signals were collected. RSP signals were processed to extract breath-by-breath estimates of RR, Ti, and Te. These estimates were compared against ground truth spirometry-based estimates using Bland-Altman analysis. We find that incorporating quality indexing and outlier removal prior to feature extraction improves the 95% limits of agreement by 10-40%. We also find that by using ECG-derived respiration (EDR) during periods of RSP artifact, the data removal necessary for accurate respiratory timing estimation is significantly reduced ( for all postures). These findings encourage the use of quality assessment and EDR to enhance the robustness of RR, Ti, and Te estimation from RSP signals. Clinical Relevance- Detecting stimulus-induced or pathological changes in respiratory function can enhance our understanding and monitoring of respiratory health. Quality assessment and the use of EDR help accomplish this by enabling more accurate measurement of respiratory timings.
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Gazi AH, Wittbrodt MT, Harrison AB, Sundararaj S, Gurel NZ, Nye JA, Shah AJ, Vaccarino V, Bremner JD, Inan OT. Robust Estimation of Respiratory Variability Uncovers Correlates of Limbic Brain Activity and Transcutaneous Cervical Vagus Nerve Stimulation in the Context of Traumatic Stress. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng 2022; 69:849-859. [PMID: 34449355 PMCID: PMC8853700 DOI: 10.1109/tbme.2021.3108135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Variations in respiration patterns are a characteristic response to distress due to underlying neurorespiratory couplings. Yet, no work to date has quantified respiration pattern variability (RPV) in the context of traumatic stress and studied its functional neural correlates - this analysis aims to address this gap. METHODS Fifty human subjects with prior traumatic experiences (24 with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)) completed a ∼3-hr protocol involving personalized traumatic scripts and active/sham (double-blind) transcutaneous cervical vagus nerve stimulation (tcVNS). High-resolution positron emission tomography functional neuroimages, electrocardiogram (ECG), and respiratory effort (RSP) data were collected during the protocol. Supplementing the RSP signal with ECG-derived respiration for quality assessment and timing extraction, RPV metrics were quantified and analyzed. Specifically, correlation analyses were performed using neuroactivity in selected limbic regions, and responses to active and sham tcVNS were compared. RESULTS The single-lag unscaled autocorrelation of respiration rate correlated negatively with left amygdala activity and positively with right rostromedial prefrontal cortex (rmPFC) activity for non-PTSD; it also correlated negatively with left and right insulae activity and positively with right rmPFC activity for PTSD. The single-lag unscaled autocorrelation of expiration time was greater following active stimulation for non-PTSD. CONCLUSION Quantifying RPV is of demonstrable importance to assessing trauma-induced changes in neural function and tcVNS effects on respiratory physiology. SIGNIFICANCE This is the first demonstration of RPV's pertinence to traumatic stress- and tcVNS-induced neurorespiratory responses. The open-source processing pipeline elucidated herein uniquely includes both RSP and ECG-derived respiration signals for quality assessment, timing estimation, and RPV extraction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Asim H. Gazi
- School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, S. Sundararaj is with the College of Sciences, Atlanta, GA 30308 USA
| | - Matthew T. Wittbrodt
- Department of Anesthesiology, School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611,Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322
| | - Anna B. Harrison
- School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, S. Sundararaj is with the College of Sciences, Atlanta, GA 30308 USA
| | | | - Nil Z. Gurel
- David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095
| | - Jonathon A. Nye
- Department of Radiology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322
| | - Amit J. Shah
- Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, GA 30322,Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322,Atlanta VA Medical Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322
| | - Viola Vaccarino
- Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, GA 30322,Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322
| | - J. Douglas Bremner
- Department of Radiology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322,Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322,Atlanta VA Medical Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322
| | - Omer T. Inan
- School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, S. Sundararaj is with the College of Sciences,Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30308 USA
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Berkebile JA, Mabrouk SA, Ganti VG, Srivatsa AV, Sanchez-Perez JA, Inan OT. Towards Estimation of Tidal Volume and Respiratory Timings via Wearable-Patch-Based Impedance Pneumography in Ambulatory Settings. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng 2021; 69:1909-1919. [PMID: 34818186 DOI: 10.1109/tbme.2021.3130540] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Evaluating convenient, wearable multi-frequency impedance pneumography (IP) based respiratory monitoring in ambulatory persons with novel electrode positioning. METHODS A wearable multi-frequency IP system was utilized to estimate tidal volume (TV) and respiratory timings in 14 healthy subjects. A 5.1 cm 5.1 cm tetrapolar electrode array, affixed to the sternum, and a conventional thoracic electrode configuration were employed to measure the respective IP signals, patch and thoracic IP. Data collected during static posturessitting and supineand activitieswalking and stair-steppingwere evaluated against a simultaneously-obtained spirometer (SP) volume signal. RESULTS Across all measurements, estimated TV obtained from the patch and thoracic IP maintained a Pearson correlation coefficient (r) of 0.930.05 and 0.950.05 to the ground truth TV, respectively, with an associated root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 0.177 L and 0.129 L, respectively. Average respiration rates (RRs) were extracted from 30-second segments with mean-absolute-percentage errors (MAPEs) of 0.93% and 0.74% for patch and thoracic IP, respectively. Likewise, average inspiratory and expiratory timings were identified with MAPEs less than 6% and 4.5% for patch and thoracic IP, respectively. CONCLUSION We demonstrated that patch IP performs comparably to traditional, cumbersome IP configurations. We also present for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, that IP can robustly estimate breath-by-breath TV and respiratory timings during ambulation. SIGNIFICANCE This work represents a notable step towards pervasive wearable ambulatory respiratory monitoring via the fusion of a compact chest-worn form factor and multi-frequency IP that can be readily adapted for holistic cardiopulmonary monitoring.
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