StimVision v2: Examples and Applications in Subthalamic Deep Brain Stimulation for Parkinson's Disease

Objective: Subthalamic deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an established therapy for Parkinson's disease. Connectomic DBS modeling is a burgeoning subfield of research aimed at characterizing the axonal connections activated by DBS. This article describes our approach and methods for evolving the StimVision software platform to meet the technical demands of connectomic DBS modeling in the subthalamic region. Materials and Methods: StimVision v2 was developed with Visualization Toolkit (VTK) libraries and integrates four major components: 1) medical image visualization, 2) axonal pathway visualization, 3) electrode positioning, and 4) stimulation calculation. Results: StimVision v2 implemented two key technological advances for connectomic DBS analyses in the subthalamic region. First was the application of anatomical axonal pathway models to patient-specific DBS models. Second was the application of a novel driving-force method to estimate the response of those axonal pathways to DBS. Example simulations with directional DBS electrodes and clinically defined therapeutic DBS settings are presented to demonstrate the general outputs of StimVision v2 models. Conclusions: StimVision v2 provides the opportunity to evaluate patient-specific axonal pathway activation from subthalamic DBS using anatomically detailed pathway models and electrically detailed electric field distributions with interactive adjustment of the DBS electrode position and stimulation parameter settings.

Automated summary

This article describes the approach and methods for evolving the StimVision software platform to meet the technical demands of connectomic DBS modeling in the subthalamic region. StimVision v2 implemented two key technological advances, including application of anatomical axonal pathway models to patient-specific DBS models and a novel driving-force method to estimate the response of axonal pathways to DBS.