Coil design considerations for deep transcranial magnetic stimulation.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

To explore the field characteristics and design tradeoffs of coils for deep transcranial magnetic stimulation (dTMS).

Methods

We simulated parametrically two dTMS coil designs on a spherical head model using the finite element method, and compare them with five commercial TMS coils, including two that are FDA approved for the treatment of depression (ferromagnetic-core figure-8 and H1 coil).

Results

Smaller coils have a focality advantage over larger coils; however, this advantage diminishes with increasing target depth. Smaller coils have the disadvantage of producing stronger field in the superficial cortex and requiring more energy. When the coil dimensions are large relative to the head size, the electric field decay in depth becomes linear, indicating

SUBMITTER: Deng ZD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4020988 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature