System on chip design of the nerve centres of the human neuroregulatory system

Abstract

Introduction: The human neuroregulatory system is a complex nervous system composed of a heterogeneous group of nerve centres distributed along the spinal cord. These centres act autonomously, communicate through neural interconnections, and govern and regulate the behavior of organs in humans. For more than twenty years, the neuroregulatory system of the lower urinary tract has been studied, which controls the organs and systems involved in the urination process. Based on the study of the behavior and composition of the lower urinary tract, we have succeeded in isolating the centres involved in its functioning. The goal has been to understand the individual role played by each centre to create a general model of the neuroregulatory system capable of operating at the level of the nerve centre. Methods: The model has been created and formalized based on Multi-Agent Systems theory: each agent thus models the behaviour of a nerve centre. Its granularity opens up the possibility of acting at the level of the centre, of particular interest to treat dysfunctions. Results and discussion: The present study enriches this theoretical model with an architectural model that makes it suitable to implement in hardware. Based on this new model, we propose a System on Chip (SoC) design of a specific processor capable of performing a nerve centre’sfunctions.Although this processor can be entirely configured and programmed to adjust to the functioning of the different centres, the present work aimed at facilitating the understanding and validation of the proposal. We thus focused on the cortical-diencephalic centre, responsible for voluntary micturition. As conclusions, the research adopted an original approach with the aim of creating a configurable chip, capable of developing any neuroregulatory function, implantable in the body and being able to function in a coordinated way with the biological neuroregulator system.