Brain tissue stimulation method, apparatus and computer program

1. A local stimulation method of a predetermined region of brain tissue to characterize the brain tissue under stimulation, said brain tissue comprising at least GABAergic neuron type, said method comprising a main set of steps comprising:

performing a predetermined number of first activation steps using a set of bipolar electrodes by delivering a first predetermined electric field with a first predetermined electric intensity and a first predetermined biphasic pulse frequency comprised between 0.5 and 10 Hz, wherein said first predetermined electric field induces an activation of said GABAergic type neurons;

after each of the first activation steps, performing a recording step, in which a response of the brain tissue to said activation is recorded, wherein the set of predetermined first activation steps delivers said predetermined number of responses; and

performing a step of characterization on the basis of a plurality of said recorded predetermined number of responses to evaluate the excitability of GABAergic type neurons of said brain tissue, said step of characterization comprising:

a step of calculating a Neural Network Excitability Index (NNEI), for at least one sub-region of said brain tissue, as a function of said predetermined number of responses; and

when a value of said NNEI is greater than 0.5 for said at least one sub-region of said brain tissue, a set of predetermined number of second activation steps is performed with a second predetermined biphasic pulse frequency of about 1 kHz.

2. The local stimulation method according to claim 1 , wherein the activation of said set of bipolar electrodes comprises delivering, to said bipolar electrodes, biphasic pulses, each biphasic pulse lasting about 200 microseconds.

3. The local stimulation method according to claim 1 , wherein, the calculation of said NNEI by NNEI=1−PCI(f s ) comprises:

dividing a local field potential signal, included in the recorded responses during periodic pulse stimulation, into single response epochs (s);

applying, on each s, a Fast Fourier Transform, yielding both amplitude and phase of its frequency components, as complex-valued coefficients (Z); and

at each of the first predetermined biphasic pulse frequency (f), a Phase Clustering Index (PCI) is computed as an average of these complex coefficients, normalized by their magnitudes, over s:

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4. The local stimulation method according to claim 1 , wherein a duration of the first and/or second activation step lasts between 3 and 7 minutes.

5. The local stimulation method according to claim 1 , wherein the number of the predetermined number of responses is about 300.

6. A local stimulation device, for stimulating a predetermined region of brain tissue, said brain tissue comprising at least GABAergic neuron type, said device comprising:

a processor; and

a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon, which when executed by the processor configure the local stimulation device to perform acts comprising:

performing a predetermined number of first activation steps using a set of bipolar electrodes by delivering a first predetermined electric field with, according to a first predetermined electric intensity and a first predetermined biphasic pulse frequency comprised between 0.5 and 10 Hz wherein, said first predetermined electric field induces an activation of said GABAergic type neurons;

after each of the first activation steps, performing a recording step, in which a response of the brain tissue to said activation is recorded, wherein the set of predetermined first activation steps delivers said predetermined number of responses; and

performing a step of characterization on the basis of a plurality of said recorded predetermined number of responses to evaluate the excitability of GABAergic type neurons of said brain tissue, said step of characterization comprising:

a step of calculating a Neural Network Excitability Index (NNEI), for at least one sub-region of said brain tissue, as a function of said predetermined number of responses; and

when a value of said NNEI is greater than 0.5 for said at least one sub-region of said brain tissue, a set of predetermined number of second activation steps is performed with a second predetermined biphasic pulse frequency of about 1 kHz.

7. The local stimulation device according to claim 6 , which further comprises:

a power source;

an external communication interface;

an electric current delivering module having a connection to the processor, said electric current delivering module being connectable to the set of bipolar electrodes, which are intracranial electrodes, the processor and the electric current delivering module being connected to the power source, said instructions configuring the local stimulation device for implementing a local stimulation of said predetermined region of brain tissue, according to stimulation parameters which are provided to said device via the external communication interface.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions of program code for implementing a local stimulation method when run on a computing device, wherein the method comprises:

local stimulation of a predetermined region of brain tissue, said brain tissue comprising at least GABAergic neuron type, said simulation comprising:

performing a predetermined number of first activation steps using a set of bipolar electrodes by delivering a first predetermined electric field with, according to a first predetermined electric intensity and a first predetermined biphasic pulse frequency comprised between 0.5 and 10 Hz wherein, said first predetermined electric field induces an activation of said GABAergic type neurons;

after each of the first activation steps, performing a recording step, in which a response of the brain tissue to said activation is recorded, wherein the set of predetermined first activation steps delivers said predetermined number of responses; and

performing a step of characterization on the basis of a plurality of said recorded predetermined number of responses to evaluate the excitability of GABAergic type neurons of said brain tissue, said step of characterization comprising:

a step of calculating a Neural Network Excitability Index (NNEI), for at least one sub-region of said brain tissue, as a function of said predetermined number of responses; and

when a value of said NNEI is greater than 0.5 for said at least one sub-region of said brain tissue, a set of predetermined number of second activation steps is performed with a second predetermined biphasic pulse frequency of about 1 kHz.

9. The local stimulation method of claim 1 , wherein said main set of steps is preceded by a preliminary set of steps aiming at determining said first predetermined electric intensity, said preliminary set of steps including:

activating, a set of preliminary stimulating pulses, wherein an intensity of the preliminary stimulation pulses being gradually increased;

recording a Local Field Potential (LFP) response to each of the preliminary stimulating pulses;

evaluating an optimal intensity range based on an analysis of said LFP responses, the preliminary intensity being in the optimal range if the LFP signal presents a negative deviation; and

selecting at least one of said first predetermined electric intensity within said optimal intensity range.

10. The local stimulation method according to claim 9 , wherein the number of the predetermined number of responses in the main set of steps is between 100 and 500.

11. The local simulation method according to claim 10 , wherein the number of the predetermined number of responses in the main set of steps is about 300.