Low-cost Blast Wave Generator for Studies of Hearing Loss and Brain Injury: Blast Wave Effects in Closed Spaces

Overview

Journal J Neurosci Methods

Specialty Neurology

Date 2015 Jan 20

PMID 25597910

Citations 16

Authors

Andrew J Newman

Sarah H Hayes

Abhiram S Rao

Brian L Allman

Senthilvelan Manohar

Dalian Ding

Daniel Stolzberg

Edward Lobarinas

Joseph C Mollendorf

Richard Salvi

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Military personnel and civilians living in areas of armed conflict have increased risk of exposure to blast overpressures that can cause significant hearing loss and/or brain injury. The equipment used to simulate comparable blast overpressures in animal models within laboratory settings is typically very large and prohibitively expensive.

New Method: To overcome the fiscal and space limitations introduced by previously reported blast wave generators, we developed a compact, low-cost blast wave generator to investigate the effects of blast exposures on the auditory system and brain.

Results: The blast wave generator was constructed largely from off the shelf components, and reliably produced blasts with peak sound pressures of up to 198dB SPL (159.3kPa) that were qualitatively similar to those produced from muzzle blasts or explosions. Exposure of adult rats to 3 blasts of 188dB peak SPL (50.4kPa) resulted in significant loss of cochlear hair cells, reduced outer hair cell function and a decrease in neurogenesis in the hippocampus.

Comparison To Existing Methods: Existing blast wave generators are typically large, expensive, and are not commercially available. The blast wave generator reported here provides a low-cost method of generating blast waves in a typical laboratory setting.

Conclusions: This compact blast wave generator provides scientists with a low cost device for investigating the biological mechanisms involved in blast wave injury to the rodent cochlea and brain that may model many of the damaging effects sustained by military personnel and civilians exposed to intense blasts.

Citing Articles

Multifunctional redox modulator prevents blast-induced loss of cochlear and vestibular hair cells and auditory spiral ganglion neurons.

Ding D, Manohar S, Kador P, Salvi R Sci Rep. 2024; 14(1):15296.

PMID: 38961203 PMC: 11222375. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-66406-1.

Poly ADP-Ribose Polymerase-1 inhibition by 3-aminobenzamide recuperates HEI-OC1 auditory hair cells from blast overpressure-induced cell death.

Muthaiah V, Kaliyappan K, Mahajan S Front Cell Dev Biol. 2023; 11:1047308.

PMID: 36949771 PMC: 10025353. DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2023.1047308.

Unexpected Consequences of Noise-Induced Hearing Loss: Impaired Hippocampal Neurogenesis, Memory, and Stress.

Manohar S, Chen G, Ding D, Liu L, Wang J, Chen Y Front Integr Neurosci. 2022; 16:871223.

PMID: 35619926 PMC: 9127992. DOI: 10.3389/fnint.2022.871223.

Blast trauma affects production and perception of mouse ultrasonic vocalizations.

Burke K, Ohman K, Manohar S, Dent M J Acoust Soc Am. 2022; 151(2):817.

PMID: 35232087 PMC: 8817783. DOI: 10.1121/10.0009359.

Effect of shock wave power spectrum on the inner ear pathophysiology in blast-induced hearing loss.

Kimura E, Mizutari K, Kurioka T, Kawauchi S, Satoh Y, Sato S Sci Rep. 2021; 11(1):14704.

PMID: 34282183 PMC: 8289960. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-94080-0.

References

Hofstetter P, Ding D, Salvi R . Magnitude and pattern of inner and outer hair cell loss in chinchilla as a function of carboplatin dose. Audiology. 1997; 36(6):301-11. DOI: 10.3109/00206099709071981. View

Reyes S, Ding D, Sun W, Salvi R . Effect of inner and outer hair cell lesions on electrically evoked otoacoustic emissions. Hear Res. 2001; 158(1-2):139-50. DOI: 10.1016/s0378-5955(01)00309-4. View

Taber K, Warden D, Hurley R . Blast-related traumatic brain injury: what is known?. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2006; 18(2):141-5. DOI: 10.1176/jnp.2006.18.2.141. View

Dalle Lucca J, Chavko M, Dubick M, Adeeb S, Falabella M, Slack J . Blast-induced moderate neurotrauma (BINT) elicits early complement activation and tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) release in a rat brain. J Neurol Sci. 2012; 318(1-2):146-54. DOI: 10.1016/j.jns.2012.02.002. View

Kwon S, Kovesdi E, Gyorgy A, Wingo D, Kamnaksh A, Walker J . Stress and traumatic brain injury: a behavioral, proteomics, and histological study. Front Neurol. 2011; 2:12. PMC: 3057553. DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2011.00012. View

Terrio H, Brenner L, Ivins B, Cho J, Helmick K, Schwab K . Traumatic brain injury screening: preliminary findings in a US Army Brigade Combat Team. J Head Trauma Rehabil. 2009; 24(1):14-23. DOI: 10.1097/HTR.0b013e31819581d8. View

Hoffer M, Balaban C . Vestibular rehabilitation: ready for the mainstream. NeuroRehabilitation. 2011; 29(2):125. DOI: 10.3233/NRE-2011-0686. View

Van der Gucht E, Youakim M, Arckens L, Hof P, Baizer J . Variations in the structure of the prelunate gyrus in Old World monkeys. Anat Rec A Discov Mol Cell Evol Biol. 2006; 288(7):753-75. PMC: 2837282. DOI: 10.1002/ar.a.20350. View

Gleeson J, Lin P, Flanagan L, Walsh C . Doublecortin is a microtubule-associated protein and is expressed widely by migrating neurons. Neuron. 1999; 23(2):257-71. DOI: 10.1016/s0896-6273(00)80778-3. View

10.

Cernak I . The importance of systemic response in the pathobiology of blast-induced neurotrauma. Front Neurol. 2011; 1:151. PMC: 3009449. DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2010.00151. View

11.

VandeVord P, Bolander R, Sajja V, Hay K, Bir C . Mild neurotrauma indicates a range-specific pressure response to low level shock wave exposure. Ann Biomed Eng. 2011; 40(1):227-36. DOI: 10.1007/s10439-011-0420-4. View

12.

Brown J, Couillard-Despres S, Cooper-Kuhn C, Winkler J, Aigner L, Kuhn H . Transient expression of doublecortin during adult neurogenesis. J Comp Neurol. 2003; 467(1):1-10. DOI: 10.1002/cne.10874. View

13.

Nelson L, Yoash-Gantz R, Pickett T, Campbell T . Relationship between processing speed and executive functioning performance among OEF/OIF veterans: implications for postdeployment rehabilitation. J Head Trauma Rehabil. 2009; 24(1):32-40. DOI: 10.1097/HTR.0b013e3181957016. View

14.

Sato M, Chang E, Igarashi T, Noble L . Neuronal injury and loss after traumatic brain injury: time course and regional variability. Brain Res. 2001; 917(1):45-54. DOI: 10.1016/s0006-8993(01)02905-5. View

15.

Chen G, Kermany M, DElia A, Ralli M, Tanaka C, Bielefeld E . Too much of a good thing: long-term treatment with salicylate strengthens outer hair cell function but impairs auditory neural activity. Hear Res. 2010; 265(1-2):63-9. PMC: 4191643. DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2010.02.010. View

16.

Li Y, Ding D, Jiang H, Fu Y, Salvi R . Co-administration of cisplatin and furosemide causes rapid and massive loss of cochlear hair cells in mice. Neurotox Res. 2011; 20(4):307-19. PMC: 3163790. DOI: 10.1007/s12640-011-9244-0. View

17.

Sajja V, Galloway M, Ghoddoussi F, Thiruthalinathan D, Kepsel A, Hay K . Blast-induced neurotrauma leads to neurochemical changes and neuronal degeneration in the rat hippocampus. NMR Biomed. 2012; 25(12):1331-9. DOI: 10.1002/nbm.2805. View

18.

Goodman T, Trouche S, Massou I, Verret L, Zerwas M, Roullet P . Young hippocampal neurons are critical for recent and remote spatial memory in adult mice. Neuroscience. 2010; 171(3):769-78. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2010.09.047. View

19.

Manohar S, Paolone N, Bleichfeld M, Hayes S, Salvi R, Baizer J . Expression of doublecortin, a neuronal migration protein, in unipolar brush cells of the vestibulocerebellum and dorsal cochlear nucleus of the adult rat. Neuroscience. 2011; 202:169-83. PMC: 3268848. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2011.12.013. View

20.

Cernak I, Wang Z, Jiang J, Bian X, Savic J . Cognitive deficits following blast injury-induced neurotrauma: possible involvement of nitric oxide. Brain Inj. 2001; 15(7):593-612. DOI: 10.1080/02699050010009559. View