NEC Seminar: Friday, March 28, 9 - 10 AM
Hybrid + In person in Sears 439
Speaker: Noa Nuzov
Advisor: Dr. Andrew Shoffstall
Title: Variation of the branching pattern of the human cervical-thoracic vagus nerve using 3D tracing
Abstract: The human vagus nerve is the longest in the autonomic nervous system and carries the majority of parasympathetic fibers. Although vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is used to treat epilepsy, depression, obesity, and stroke sequelae, many patients do not show substantial improvement and suffer from side effects. VNS is under investigation to treat many other conditions, but the mechanism of action is not understood. Our novel method of 3D tracing enables digitization of the vagus nerve and its branches within a gross anatomic context; no other existing imaging modalities can visualize the trajectory of the entire human vagal complex.
We dissected human cadavers (n=25) to expose the vagus nerve and all branches. We used an optically tracked stylus to trace the pathway of the nerve in 3D and each branch as distally as possible. The 3D tracing data provides visualization of the vagus nerve’s pathway and its branches to scale. The number of branches to each target organ and the locations of branches varied substantially between the left and right sides, and across individuals. Locations of minimal or conserved branching across subjects will expose potential VNS implant locations that may reduce off-target side effects and branch injury during implantation.