Estimation of conduction velocity distribution in human nerve trunks with generalized POCS method

Abstract

With a generalized method of projections onto convex sets (g-POCS), a distribution of peripheral nerve conduction velocities and a single fiber action potential are deconvolved from two compound action potentials, which are evoked at two stimulating sites, and observed with a surface electrode. The iterative estimation procedure consists of alternating projections of each least square solution onto corresponding constraint set; a non-negative distribution with finite support and a single fiber action potential with finite duration are assumed. The proposed method is applied to measure the distribution of the conduction velocities, and compared with the collision method, resulting high correlation. The method is also applied to measure the distribution of the sensory nerve conduction velocities. The useful information about the peripheral nerve can be obtained by the present method and the application to the clinical field is expected.