A model of the electrical behaviour of myelinated sensory nerve fibres based on human data

Abstract

Calculation of the response of human myelinated sensory nerve fibres to spinal cord stimulation initiated the development of a fibre model based on electro-physiological and morphometric data for human sensory nerve fibres. The model encompasses a mathematical description of the kinetics of the nodal membrane, and a non-linear fibre geometry. Fine tuning of only a few, not well-established parameters was performed by fitting the shape of a propagating action potential and its diameter-dependent propagation velocity. The quantitative behaviour of this model corresponds better to experimentally determined human fibre properties than other mammalian, non-human models do. Typical characteristics, such as the shape of the action potential, the propagation velocity and the strength-duration behaviour show a good fit with experimental data. The introduced diameter-dependent parameters did not result in a noticeable diameter dependency of action potential duration and refractory period. The presented model provides an improved tool to analyse the electrical behaviour of human myelinated sensory nerve fibres