There has been ongoing debate about the efficacy and mechanism of action of neuromodulation devices in pain relief applications. It has recently been suggested that both issues may be resolved if electromagnetic theory is incorporated into the understanding and application of this technology, and we therefore undertook an in silico analysis to further explore this idea. We created a CAD replication of a standard neuromodulation electrode array with a generic linear 3/6 mm 8‐contact lead, developed a parameterized algorithmic model for the pulse delivered by the device and assigned material properties to biologic media to accurately reflect their electromagnetic properties. We then created a physical simulation of the device's output both in air and in the biophysical environment. The simulations confirmed the presence of an electromagnetic field (EM field). Variations in programming of the device affected the strength of the EM field by orders of magnitude. The biologic media all absorbed the EM field, an effect which was particularly pronounced in cerebrospinal fluid and muscle. We discuss the implications of all these findings in relation to the literature. We suggest that knowledge of electromagnetic theory and its application within the biophysical space is required for the optimal use of neuromodulation devices in pain relief applications.

中文翻译：

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用于缓解疼痛的神经调节的计算机分析：确定经典电动力学的作用

关于神经调节装置在疼痛缓解应用中的功效和作用机制一直存在争论。最近有人提出，如果将电磁理论纳入对该技术的理解和应用中，这两个问题都可能得到解决，因此我们进行了计算机分析以进一步探索这一想法。我们使用通用线性 3/6 mm 8 触点引线创建了标准神经调节电极阵列的 CAD 复制品，为设备传输的脉冲开发了参数化算法模型，并将材料属性分配给生物介质，以准确反映其电磁属性。然后，我们对设备在空气和生物物理环境中的输出进行了物理模拟。模拟证实了电磁场（EM 场）的存在。设备编程的变化会对电磁场的强度产生几个数量级的影响。生物介质都吸收了电磁场，这种效应在脑脊液和肌肉中尤其明显。我们讨论所有这些发现与文献相关的含义。我们建议，为了在疼痛缓解应用中最佳地使用神经调节装置，需要了解电磁理论及其在生物物理空间中的应用。