Development and in vivo application of the nerve stimulator and EMG analysis system for selective posterior rhizotomy

A computerized system composed of neurostimulator and EMG signal acquisition and real-time analysis system has been developed to be used for selective posterior rhizotomy. As a preliminary study for the clinical application of the developed system, we performed a series of animal experiments using cats. From the results of in vivo application, we verified the basic system performance and found that latency, amplitude variance and waveform variance are useful parameters to differentiate sensory nerve from motor nerve. The underlying mechanisms of these phenomena were also provided. These findings were utilized in establishing the objective criterion in nerve selection for selective posterior rhizotomy