For achieving motor recovery in individuals with sensorimotor deficits, augmented activation of the appropriate sensorimotor system, and facilitated induction of neural plasticity are essential. An emerging procedure that combines peripheral nerve stimulation and its associative stimulation with central brain stimulation is known to enhance the excitability of the motor cortex. In order to effectively apply this paired stimulation technique, timing between central and peripheral stimuli must be individually adjusted. There is a small range of effective timings between two stimuli, or the inter-stimulus interval window (ISI-W). Properties of ISI-W from neuromodulation in response to mechanical stimulation (Mstim) of muscles have been understudied because of the absence of a versatile and reliable mechanical stimulator. This paper adopted a combination of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and Mstim by using a high-precision robotic mechanical stimulator. A pneumatically operated robotic tendon tapping device was applied. A low-friction linear cylinder achieved high stimulation precision in time and low electromagnetic artifacts in physiological measurements. This paper describes a procedure to effectively estimate an individual ISI-W from the transiently enhanced motor evoked potential (MEP) with a reduced number of paired Mstim and sub-threshold TMS trials by applying statistical sampling and regression technique. This paper applied a total of four parametric and non-parametric statistical regression methods for ISI-W estimation. The developed procedure helps to reduce time for individually adjusting effective ISI, reducing physical burden on the subject.

中文翻译：

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通过配对机械和大脑刺激进行瞬时神经调节的统计刺激间间隔窗口估计。

为了实现感觉运动缺陷个体的运动恢复，增强适当的感觉运动系统的激活并促进神经可塑性的诱导是至关重要的。一种将周围神经刺激及其关联刺激与中枢脑刺激相结合的新兴程序已知可以增强运动皮层的兴奋性。为了有效地应用这种配对刺激技术，中枢和外周刺激之间的时间必须单独调整。两个刺激之间存在小范围的有效计时，或刺激间间隔窗口 (ISI-W)。由于缺乏多功能且可靠的机械刺激器，对肌肉机械刺激 (Mstim) 反应的神经调节 ISI-W 的特性尚未得到充分研究。本文采用高精度机器人机械刺激器将经颅磁刺激（TMS）和Mstim相结合。应用气动操作的机器人腱攻丝装置。低摩擦线性圆柱体在时间上实现了高刺激精度，并在生理测量中实现了低电磁伪影。本文描述了一种通过应用统计采样和回归技术，通过减少配对 Mstim 和亚阈值 TMS 试验数量，从瞬时增强运动诱发电位 (MEP) 有效估计单个 ISI-W 的过程。本文总共应用了四种参数和非参数统计回归方法来进行 ISI-W 估计。开发的程序有助于减少单独调整有效 ISI 的时间，减轻受试者的身体负担。