Method and apparatus for mapping cortical connections
First Claim
1. A method of examining and mapping the reactivity of and connections between different cortical areas of a subject, said method comprising:
- inducing an electromagnetic stimulus pulse in the interior of the subject'"'"'s head, measuring a multichannel response signal representing electromagnetic activity generated by the subject'"'"'s brain in response to the electromagnetic stimulus pulse by multichannel electrical means, stabilizing or clamping said multichannel response signal during at least one stage of the measurement for the duration of the stimulus pulse in order to minimize disturbance artefacts in said multichannel response signal caused by application of the stimulus pulse, forming a visualization of activity changes in the measured signals, and localizing the activity generating the measured electromagnetic field to the respective areas of the head, or alternatively focusing the sensitivity pattern of the multichannel activity measurement to a desired point.
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Abstract
The invention relates to a method and apparatus for examining and mapping the reactivity of and connections between different cortical areas. In the method an electromagnetic stimulus is induced in the interior parts of the head and the electromagnetic field generated around the skull is measured by electrical means (1). According to the method, the electromagnetic activity of the brain is measured using multichannel equipment, artefacts caused by the stimulus are eliminated from the signal containing the electromagnetic activity, a visualization of the activity changes in the measured signals is formed, and the areas of the head related to said activity generating said electromagnetic field are localized, or alternatively, the maximum of the sensitivity pattern of the multichannel activity measurement system is focused to a desired point.
107 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of examining and mapping the reactivity of and connections between different cortical areas of a subject, said method comprising:
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inducing an electromagnetic stimulus pulse in the interior of the subject'"'"'s head, measuring a multichannel response signal representing electromagnetic activity generated by the subject'"'"'s brain in response to the electromagnetic stimulus pulse by multichannel electrical means, stabilizing or clamping said multichannel response signal during at least one stage of the measurement for the duration of the stimulus pulse in order to minimize disturbance artefacts in said multichannel response signal caused by application of the stimulus pulse, forming a visualization of activity changes in the measured signals, and localizing the activity generating the measured electromagnetic field to the respective areas of the head, or alternatively focusing the sensitivity pattern of the multichannel activity measurement to a desired point. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. An apparatus for examining and mapping the reactivity of and connections between different cortical areas of a subject, said apparatus comprising:
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a stimulating means for inducing an electromagnetic stimulus pulse in the interior of the subject'"'"'s head, and a multichannel electrical measurement means for recording the electromagnetic field generated around the skull, said multichannel electrical measurement means including a clamping or stabilizing means for clamping or stabilizing the input signal of the multichannel electrical measurement means during at least one stage of the measurement for the duration of the stimulus pulse in order to minimize disturbance artefacts caused by application of the stimulus pulse, an evoked-response analysis means for forming a graphic or numeric visualization of the signals measured by the multichannel electrical measurement means, and a localizing means for localizing the areas of the head related to the activity generating the measured electromagnetic field. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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20. A method for examining and mapping the reactivity of and connections between different cortical areas of a subject using apparatus that comprises a stimulating means for inducing an electromagnetic stimulus pulse in the interior of the subject'"'"'s head and a multichannel electrical measurement means for recording the electromagnetic field generated around the skull,
wherein the method comprises clamping or stabilizing the input signal of the multichannel electrical measurement means during at least one stage of the measurement for the duration of the stimulus pulse in order to minimize disturbance artefacts caused by application of the stimulus pulse, processing the signals measured by the multichannel electrical measurement means to form a visualization of changes in electromagnetic activity, and localizing the areas of the head related to the activity generating the measured electromagnetic field.
Specification