Objective. Greater occipital nerve (GON) block may provide substantial relief for headache in the occipital location. This study tested the feasibility of focused ultrasound (FUS) to induce the conduction block of GONs in rats. Approach. For in vitro experiments, the nerve was dissected and cut from C2 to the site near the ear of the rats and preserved in Ringer’s solution. Pulsed FUS was used for the block, and sensory action potentials were recorded in the GON. For in vivo experiments, the GONs of the rats were surgically exposed for precise ultrasonic treatment. All data are expressed as the mean the standard deviation. Main results. A single ultrasonic treatment temporarily suppressed the amplitude of action potentials of the in vitro nerves to 42 14% of the baseline values, and the time to recovery was 55 min. The in vivo results showed that FUS acutely inhibited the amplitude of action potentials to 41 8% of the baseline value in rat GONs, and the time to recovery was 67 min. Histological examination revealed no appreciable changes in the nerve morphology caused by FUS. Therefore, FUS reversibly blocked the conduction of the rat GON when the sonication parameters were appropriate. Significance. Noninvasive FUS may be a novel treatment paradigm for occipital headache by blocking the occipital nerve, and the procedure is repeatable if indicated.

客观。枕大神经 (GON) 阻滞可显着缓解枕骨部位的头痛。本研究测试了聚焦超声 (FUS) 诱导大鼠 GON 传导阻滞的可行性。方法。对于体外实验，将神经从 C2 切开到大鼠耳朵附近的部位，并保存在林格溶液中。脉冲 FUS 用于阻滞，感觉动作电位记录在 GON 中。对于体内实验，通过手术暴露大鼠的 GON 进行精确的超声治疗。所有数据均表示为平均值标准偏差。主要结果. 单次超声治疗将体外神经的动作电位幅度暂时抑制到基线值的42±14%，恢复时间为55分钟。体内实验结果表明，FUS 急性抑制大鼠 GONs 动作电位幅度达到基线值的 41±8%，恢复时间为 67 min。组织学检查显示 FUS 引起的神经形态没有明显变化。因此，当超声参数合适时，FUS 可逆地阻断了大鼠 GON 的传导。意义。无创 FUS 可能是一种通过阻断枕部神经来治疗枕部头痛的新方法，如果有指征，该过程是可重复的。