Improved method for cannula fixation for long-term intracerebral brain infusion

Publication date: Available online 25 July 2017
Source:Journal of Neuroscience Methods
Author(s): Ádám Sike, Jonas Wengenroth, Jolanta Upīte, Thomas Brüning, Iván Eiriz, Petra Sántha, Henrik Biverstål, Baiba Jansone, Håvard Jostein Haugen, Markus Krohn, Jens Pahnke
BackgroundImplanted osmotic minipumps are commonly used for long-term, brain-targeted delivery of a wide range of experimental agents by being connected to a catheter and a cannula. During the stereotactical surgery procedure, the cannula has to be placed correctly in the x-y directions and also with respect to the injection point in the z-direction (deepness). However, the flat fixation base of available cannula holders doesn’t allow an easy, secure fixation onto the curve-shaped skull.New methodWe have developed a modified method for a better fixation of the cannula holder by using an easy-to-produce, skull-shaped silicone spacer as fixation adapter.ResultsWe describe the application and its fast and reliable production in the lab.Comparison with existing method(s)Superglue or cement is currently being used as the method of choice. However, the curve-shaped skull surface does not fit well with the flat and rigid cannula adapter which leads to fixation problems over time causing wide infusion channels and often also to leakage problems from intracerebrally applied agents towards the surface meninges. As another consequence of the inappropriate fixation, the cannula may loosen from the skull before the end of the experiment or it causes damage to the brain tissue, harming the animals with leading to a failure of the whole experiment.ConclusionsThe easy-to-produce spacer facilitates the crucial step of long-term, stereotactic brain infusion experiments with intracerebral catheters in a highly secure and reproducible way.

Graphical abstract

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