An Auxiliary Educational Tool for Propagating Single and Compound Nerve Action Potential

Erhan Kiziltan; Nimet Unay Gundogan; Ayse Sebnem Ilhan; Leyla Aydin; Nuray Yazihan; Ferit Pehlivan

doi:10.4236/oalib.1101288

Home > Journals > Biomedical & Life Sciences | Business & Economics > OALibJ

Open Access Library Journal > Vol.2 No.1, January 2015

An Auxiliary Educational Tool for Propagating Single and Compound Nerve Action Potential ()

Erhan Kiziltan¹, Nimet Unay Gundogan¹, Ayse Sebnem Ilhan¹, Leyla Aydin^1*, Nuray Yazihan², Ferit Pehlivan³

¹Physiology Department, Medical Faculty, Baskent University, Ankara, Turkey.
²Physiopathology Department, Medical Faculty, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey.
³Biophysics Department, Medical Faculty, Ufuk University, Ankara, Turkey.

DOI: 10.4236/oalib.1101288 PDF HTML XML 769 Downloads 1,000 Views

Abstract

Objective: The use of simulation in medical education has become an important and successfully implemented auxiliary method, recently. In this study, we aimed to present a compact screen-based computer simulation for second year medical students so that they may experience various aspects of peripheral nerve electrophysiology by themselves. Methods: The model used in the calculations combines both the passive and active membrane properties which were described in passive cable theory and in the classical study of Hodgkin and Huxley on membrane potential generation, respectively. Results: The simulation provides numerical and visual demonstration for various electrophysiological features of nerve cell such as membrane potential development, threshold stimulus, refractoriness, conduction in myelinated fiber, myelin and temperature effect on conduction etc. Besides, users may also have experience on propagation of compound nerve action potential that is the combined activation of nerve fibers. Conclusion: We suggest that this simulation may be considered as an auxiliary tool for classical physiology laboratory sessions. It is our intent to share and to make the simulation freely available to all interested readers.

Keywords

Medical Education, Screen-Based Simulation, Compound Nerve Action Potential

Share and Cite:

Kiziltan, E. , Gundogan, N. , Ilhan, A. , Aydin, L. , Yazihan, N. and Pehlivan, F. (2015) An Auxiliary Educational Tool for Propagating Single and Compound Nerve Action Potential. Open Access Library Journal, 2, 1-8. doi: 10.4236/oalib.1101288.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Ziv, A., Wolpe, P.R., Small, S.D. and Glick, S. (2003) Simulation-Based Medical Education: An Ethical Imperative. Academic Medicine, 78, 783-788. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00001888-200308000-00006
[2]	McGrath, P., Kucera, R. and Smith, W. (2003) Computer Simulation of Introductory Neurophysiology. Advances in Physiology Education, 27, 120-129. http://dx.doi.org/10.1152/advan.00055.2002
[3]	Bradley, P. (2006) The History of Simulation in Medical Education and Possible Future Directions. Medical Education, 40, 254-262. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2929.2006.02394.x
[4]	Rawson, R.E., Dispensa, M.E., Goldstein, R.E., Nicholson, K.W. and Vidal, N.K. (2009) A Simulation for Teaching the Basic and Clinical Science of Fluid Therapy. Advances in Physiology Education, 33, 202-208. http://dx.doi.org/10.1152/advan.90211.2008
[5]	Midik, Ö. and Kartal, M. (2010) Simülasyona Dayali Tip Egitimi. Marmara Medical Journal, 23, 389-399.
[6]	Maran, N.J. and Glavin, R.J. (2003) Low-to High-Fidelity Simulation—A Continuum of Medical Education? Medical Education, 37, 22-28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2923.37.s1.9.x
[7]	Modell, H. (1991) Technology-Based Resources: Computer Software for Physiology Education. Advances in Physilogy Education, 260, 34-37.
[8]	Holzinger, A., Kickmeier-Rust, M.D., Wassertheurer, S. and Hessinger, M. (2009) Learning Performance with Interactive Simulations in Medical Education: Lessons Learned from Results of Learning Complex Physiological Models with the HAEMOdynamics SIMulator. Computers & Education, 52, 292-301. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2008.08.008
[9]	Hodgkin, A.L. and Huxley, A.F. (1952) A Quantative Description of Membrane Current and Its Application to Conduction and Excitation in Nerve. Jornal of Physiology (London), 117, 500-544. http://dx.doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.1952.sp004764
[10]	Frankenhaeuser, B. and Huxley, A.F. (1964) The Action Potential in the Myelinated Nerve Fiber of Xenopus Leavis as Computed on the Basis of Voltage Clamp Data. Journal of Physiology (London), 171, 302-315. http://dx.doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.1964.sp007378
[11]	Stephanova, D.I. and Bostock, H. (1995) A Distributed-Parameter Model of the Myelinated Human Motor Nerve Fibre: Temporal and Spatial Distributions of Action Potentials and Ìonic Currents. Biological Cybernetics, 73, 275-280. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00201429
[12]	Meta Neuron Program (2012). http://www2.neuroscience.umn.edu/eanwebsite/metaneuron.htm
[13]	Neuron for Empirically-Based Simulations of Neurons and Networks of Neurons (2012). http://neuron.duke.edu/
[14]	Stein, R.B. (1981) Muscle and Nerve. 2nd Edition, Plenum Press, New York, 65-86.
[15]	Kiziltan, E. (1995) Yapay Demyelinasyonun Aksiyon Potansiyeli üzerine Etkisinin Gözlenmesi ve Sayisal Analiz Yöntemleri ile Yorumlanmasi. Ph.D. Dissertation, Ankara üniversitesi Saglik Bilimleri Enstitusu, Ankara.
[16]	Abram, S.R., Hodnett, B.L., Summers, R.L., Coleman, T.G. and Hester, R.L. (2007) Quantitative Circulatory Physiology: An Integrative Mathematical Model of Human Physiology for Medical Education. Advances in Physiology Education, 31, 202-210. http://dx.doi.org/10.1152/advan.00114.2006
[17]	Koles, Z.J. and Rasminsky, M. (1972) A Computer Simulation of Conduction in Demyelinated Nerve Fibers. Journal of Physiology, 227, 351-364. http://dx.doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.1972.sp010036
[18]	Moore, J.W., Joyner, R.W., Brill, B.H., Waxman, S.D. and Najar-Joa, M. (1978) Simulations of Conduction in Uniform Myelinated Fibers: Relative Sensitivity to Changes in Nodal and Internodal Parameters. Biophysical Journal, 21, 147-160. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0006-3495(78)85515-5
[19]	Reutskiy, S., Rossoni, E. and Tirozzi, B. (2003) Conduction in Bundles of Demyelinated Nerve Fibers: Computer Simulation. Biological Cybernetics, 89, 439-448.
[20]	Pehlivan, F., Dalkilic, N. and Kiziltan, E. (2004) Does the Conduction Velocity Distribution Change along the Nerve? Medical Engineering and Physics, 26, 395-401. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.medengphy.2004.02.009
[21]	Kiziltan, E. and Pehlivan, F. (2006) Assessment Criteria for Ezperimental Demyelination Induced in Frog Peripheral Nerve. International Journal of Neuroscience, 116, 1431-1446. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00207450500514391
[22]	Kiziltan, E., Dalkilic, N., Guney, F.B. and Pehlivan, F. (2007) Conduction Velocity Distribution: Early Diagnostic Tool for Peripheral Neuropathies. International Journal of Neuroscience, 117, 203-213. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00207450600582496
[23]	Pehlivan, F. (2005) Simple Analog Model to Teach Electrophysiological Concepts. Proceedings of the 27th Annual International Conference on Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, Shanghai, 17-18 January 2006, 863-866.