Transcranial magnet stimulation of deep brain targets
AssigneeCervel Neurotech, Inc.
InventorsM. Bret Schneider, David J. Mishelevich
Life of this patent
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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.
Claims31
A Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) method for stimulating a brain region deep within a patient's brain, the method comprising:
- positioning a first TMS electromagnet outside of a patient's head;
- determining the distance between a target deep brain region and a sulcus, wherein the sulcus is within the range of a magnetic field emitted by the first TMS electromagnet;
- determining stimulation parameters for the first TMS electromagnet based on the distance between the target brain region and the sulcus;
- and
- applying energy to the first TMS electromagnet at the determined stimulation parameters.
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;
- determining stimulation parameters for each TMS electromagnet based on the distance between a target deep brain region and a sulcus that is in the range of a magnetic field emitted by each TMS electromagnet;
- and
- applying energy to each of the plurality of TMS electromagnets at the determined stimulation parameters.
A Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) method for stimulating the cingulate region of a patient's brain while leaving the outer cortex relatively undisturbed, the method comprising:
- aiming a plurality of independently powerable TMS electromagnets at the cingulate region tracts of the patient's brain;
- determining stimulation parameters for each TMS electromagnet so that the power of the field emitted by each TMS electromagnet at the cortical surface is below the motor threshold;
- and
- triggering pulses from the TMS electromagnets at phase-complementary angles, wherein pulses from two or more TMS electromagnets are triggered within the membrane time constant of the target cingulate region.
A Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) method for stimulating the insula region of a patient's brain while leaving the outer cortex relatively undisturbed, the method comprising:
- positioning a plurality of independently powerable TMS electromagnets outside of the patient's head;
- aiming the plurality of independently powerable TMS electromagnets at the insula region of the patient's brain;
- determining stimulation parameters for each TMS electromagnet so that the power of the field emitted by each TMS electromagnet at the cortical surface is below the motor threshold;
- and
- triggering pulses from the TMS electromagnets at phase-complementary angles, wherein pulses from two or more TMS electromagnets are triggered within the membrane time constant of the target insula region.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.