title: Simulation of a conductive shield plate for the focalization of transcranial magnetic stimulation in the rat.
abstract: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) in the rat is a powerful tool for investigating brain function. However, the state-of-the-art experiments are considerably limited because the stimulation usually affects undesired anatomical structures. A simulation of a conductive shield plate placed between the coil stimulator and the rat brain during TMS is presented. The Finite Element (FE) method is used to obtain the 3D electric field distribution on a four-layer rat head model. The simulations show that the shield plate with a circular window can improve the focalization of stimulation, as quantitatively seen by computing the three-dimensional half power region (HPR). Focalization with the shield plate showed a clear compromise with the attenuation of the induced field. The results suggest that the shield plate can work as a helpful tool for conducting TMS rat experiments on specific targets.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Robotics and Cognitive Systems and the Graduate School for Computing in Medicine and Life Sciences, University of Lübeck, Germany. gasca@rob.uni-luebeck.de
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gasca
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Richter
authors.forename: Achim
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schweikard
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D008280:Magnetics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D008959:Models, Neurological; D051381:Rats; D050781:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods