Design of coils for lateralized TMS on mice
Clemente Cobos Sánchez1,2, José Joaquín Jurado García1, Miguel Ruiz Cabello3
1Depto. Ingeniería de Sistemas y Electrónica, Avenida de la Universidad, 10, E-11519, Puerto Real (Cádiz), Spain.
Journal of Neural Engineering
|April 17, 2020
Summary
Researchers developed new rodent-specific transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) coils for better animal models. These custom TMS devices improve the reliability of translational studies, advancing clinical techniques.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Neuroscience
- Medical Physics
Background:
- Translational studies using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) are crucial for advancing clinical techniques.
- Current limitations exist due to the lack of small-animal-specific TMS systems that replicate human stimulation conditions.
- Developing precise TMS tools for rodents is essential for reliable preclinical research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To design and validate novel rodent-specific TMS coils using advanced computational methods.
- To overcome limitations in current small-animal TMS systems for more accurate translational studies.
- To create TMS devices capable of producing comparable stimulation to human applications.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a stream function inverse boundary element method (IBEM) for coil design.
- Engineered three distinct mouse-specific TMS coil geometries for unilateral hemispheric stimulation.
- Incorporated design constraints including minimized magnetic energy, power dissipation, and undesired electric fields.
Main Results:
- Successfully designed and fabricated three prototype TMS coils tailored for rodent brains.
- Numerical simulations confirmed focal stimulation of the right hemisphere in a mouse model.
- Validated the efficacy of the IBEM approach for small-animal TMS coil development.
Conclusions:
- The proposed IBEM design strategy is highly suitable for creating specialized small-animal TMS coils.
- The developed prototype coils enable targeted, lateralized brain stimulation in rodents.
- This approach enhances the reliability of translational TMS research by providing optimized small-animal stimulators.
