IEEE Trans Biomed Circuits Syst. 2020 Jun;14(3):525-534. doi: 10.1109/TBCAS.2020.2981012. Epub 2020 Mar 16.
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a non-invasive neuromodulation technique used for the treatment of a great variety of neurological disorders. The technique involves applying a magnetic field in certain areas of the cerebral cortex in order to modify neuronal excitability outside the skull. However, the exact brain mechanisms underlying rTMS effects are not completely elucidated. For that purpose, and in order to generate a pulsed magnetic field, a half-bridge converter controlled by a microcontroller has been designed to apply rTMS in small animals. Moreover, the small size of the rodent head makes it necessary to design a magnetic transducer, with the aim of focusing the magnetic field on selected brain areas using a specific and a small magnetic head. Using such devices, our purpose was to compare the effects of five different rTMS dosages on rat brain metabolic activity. The experimental results showed that one day of stimulation leads to an enhancement of brain metabolic activity in cortical areas, meanwhile with three days of stimulation it is possible to also modify subcortical zones, results that were not found when extending the number of rTMS applications up to seven days. In consequence, the number of pulses delivered might be an important parameter in rTMS protocols, highlighting its importance in rTMS impact.
重复经颅磁刺激(rTMS)是一种非侵入性的神经调节技术,用于治疗多种神经疾病。该技术涉及在大脑皮层的某些区域施加磁场,以改变颅骨外的神经元兴奋性。然而,rTMS 效应的确切脑机制尚未完全阐明。为此,为了产生脉冲磁场,设计了一个由微控制器控制的半桥转换器,以便在小动物中应用 rTMS。此外,啮齿动物头部的体积较小,因此需要设计一种磁换能器,目的是使用特定的小磁头将磁场聚焦在选定的大脑区域。使用这些设备,我们的目的是比较五种不同 rTMS 剂量对大鼠脑代谢活性的影响。实验结果表明,刺激一天可增强皮质区域的大脑代谢活性,而刺激三天则有可能改变皮质下区域,当将 rTMS 的应用次数增加到七天时,没有发现这些结果。因此,施加的脉冲数可能是 rTMS 方案中的一个重要参数,突出了其在 rTMS 影响中的重要性。