Identification of motor and sensory nerves is important in applications such as nerve injury repair. Conventional practice relies on time consuming staining methods for this purpose. Here, we use laser scanning infrared differential interference contrast (IR-DIC) microscopy for label-free observation of the two types of nerve. Ventral and dorsal nerve roots of adult beagle dogs were collected and sections of different thicknesses were imaged with an IR-DIC microscope. Different texture patterns of the IR-DIC images of the motor and sensory nerve can be distinguished when the section thickness increases to 40 μm. This suggests that nerve fibers in motor and sensory nerves have different distribution patterns. The result hints a potential new way for more rapid identification of nerve type in peripheral nerve repair surgery.

为了避免或减少脊柱外科手术中过度牵拉神经根造成的医源性神经功能损伤，将硅压阻式压力传感器应用于手术器械神经拉勾上来量化术中对神经根的牵拉程度，以提高脊柱疾病的手术治疗成功率。在神经拉钩接触神经根的部位安装压力传感器，测量神经根被牵拉时所受压力。利用白兔和山羊进行不同程度和时间的神经根牵拉实验，并同时用肌电图监测不同牵拉情况下神经根电生理反应的变化。牵拉平均压力变化约14 kPa时，潜伏期变化率为1.12%，波幅变化率为21.21%，表明被牵拉神经根的轴索部位有损伤；牵拉平均压力基本相同时，牵拉持续时间越长，神经根功能受损程度越大。牵拉的时间和加载在神经根上的压力与神经功能损伤程度正相关，表明通过实验建立了神经根所受压力与相应电生理反应的联系，有助于在今后的研究中进一步明确神经根牵拉的安全阈值。