Transcranial magnet stimulation of deep brain targets
First Claim
1. A Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) method for stimulating a brain region deep within a patient'"'"'s brain, the method comprising:
- positioning a plurality of TMS electromagnets outside of a patient'"'"'s head;
aligning the plurality of TMS electromagnets with a direction of a fiber bundle of a target deep brain region;
determining stimulation parameters for at least one of the TMS electromagnets based on a distance between the target deep brain region and a sulcus that is within range of a magnetic field emitted by one of the TMS electromagnets; and
applying stimulation from each TMS electromagnet so that stimulation at the target deep brain region from the plurality of TMS electromagnets is greater than the stimulation at a cortical surface due to a magnetic field emitted by each TMS electromagnet.
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Abstract
The treatment of specific neurological and psychiatric illnesses using Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) requires that specific neuroanatomical structures are targeted using specific pulse parameters. Described herein are methods of positioning and powering TMS electromagnets to selectively stimulate a deep brain target region while minimizing the impact on non-target regions between the TMS electromagnet and the target. Use of these configurations may involve a combination of physical, spatial and/or temporal summation. Specific approaches to achieving temporal summation are detailed.
141 Citations
12 Claims
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1. A Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) method for stimulating a brain region deep within a patient'"'"'s brain, the method comprising:
- positioning a plurality of TMS electromagnets outside of a patient'"'"'s head;
aligning the plurality of TMS electromagnets with a direction of a fiber bundle of a target deep brain region;determining stimulation parameters for at least one of the TMS electromagnets based on a distance between the target deep brain region and a sulcus that is within range of a magnetic field emitted by one of the TMS electromagnets; and applying stimulation from each TMS electromagnet so that stimulation at the target deep brain region from the plurality of TMS electromagnets is greater than the stimulation at a cortical surface due to a magnetic field emitted by each TMS electromagnet. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
- positioning a plurality of TMS electromagnets outside of a patient'"'"'s head;
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9. A Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) method for stimulating a brain region deep within a patient'"'"'s brain, the method comprising:
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positioning a plurality of TMS electromagnets outside of a patient'"'"'s head; aligning the plurality of TMS electromagnets with a direction of a fiber bundle of a target deep brain region; determining a direction of a pathway to the target deep brain region through a sulcus that is within a range of a magnetic field emitted by one or more of the TMS electromagnets, and further comprising determining stimulation parameters for one or more of the TMS electromagnets based on the direction of the pathway to the target deep brain region through the sulcus that is within the range of a magnetic field emitted by one or more of the TMS electromagnets; and applying stimulation from each TMS electromagnet so that stimulation at the target deep brain region from the plurality of TMS electromagnets is greater than stimulation at a cortical surface due to a magnetic field emitted by each TMS electromagnet. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
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Specification