A micro magnetic stimulator

Abstract

Transcranial magnetic stimulus is a non-invasive method for electrically stimulating the cerebral cortex applying squared pulses with certain frequency, during variable time intervals, over particular regions of the cranium. Some specific stimuli are able to depolarize neurons and produce measurable effects such that chains of these stimuli may modify the cortical excitability of both the stimulated zone and the related remote areas through functional anatomic connections. This allows an efficient tool on treating neurological and psychiatric conditions such as depression. In this work we present a novel stimulation architecture that allows localizing the magnetic field over small spatial regions such that the field amplitude is on the order of micro-Tesla, which is three orders of magnitude less than that used in the current technology. Besides localizing the stimuli, this novel architecture will help to reduce the secondary effects of the treatment due to the low field intensity.