Jarmo Ruohonen

Neuronal responses to magnetic stimulation reveal cortical reactivity and connectivity

MOTOR and visual cortices of normal volunteers were activated by transcranial magnetic stimulation. The electrical brain activity resulting from the brief electromagnetic pulse was recorded with high-resolution electroencephalography (HR-EEG) and located using inversion algorithms. The stimulation of the left sensorimotor hand area elicited an immediate response at the stimulated site. The activation had spread to adjacent ipsilateral motor areas within 5–10 ms and to homologous regions in the opposite hemisphere within 20 ms. Similar activation patterns were generated by magnetic stimulation of the visual cortex. This new non-invasive method provides direct information about cortical reactivity and area-to-area neuronal connections.

Instrumentation for the measurement of electric brain responses to transcranial magnetic stimulation

There is described a 60-channel EEG acquisition system designed for the recording of scalp-potential distributions starting just 2.5ms after individual transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) pulses. The amplifier comprises gain-control and sample-and-hold circuits to prevent large artefacts from magnetically induced voltages in the leads. The maximum amplitude of the stimulus artefact during the 2.5ms gating period is 1.7 μV, and 5 ms after the TMS pulse it is only 0.9 μV. It is also shown that mechanical forces to the electrodes under the stimulator coil are a potential source of artefacts, even though, with chlorided silver wire and Ag/AgCl-pellet electrodes, the artefact is smaller than 1 μV. The TMS-compatible multichannel EEG system makes it possible to locate TMS-evoked electric activity in the brain.

The role of the coil click in TMS assessed with simultaneous EEG

OBJECTIVE We have used EEG to measure effects of air- and bone-conducted sound from the coil in transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). METHODS Auditory-evoked potentials to TMS were recorded in three different experimental conditions: (1) the coil 2 cm above the head, (2) the coil 2 cm above the head but rigidly connected by a plastic piece to the scalp, (3) the coil pressed against the scalp over the motor cortex. RESULTS The acoustical click from the TMS coil evoked large auditory potentials, whose amplitude depended critically on the mechanical contact of the coil with the head. CONCLUSION Both air- and bone-conducted sounds have to be taken into account in the design and interpretation of TMS experiments.

Magnetic stimulation of the nervous system : Induced electric field in unbounded, semi-infinite, spherical, and cylindrical media

Knowledge of the electric field that is induced in the brain or the limbs is of importance in magnetic stimulation of the nervous system. Here, an analytical model based on the reciprocity theorem is used to compare the induced electric field in unbounded, semi-infinite, spherical, and cylinder-like volume conductors. Typical stimulation coil arrangements are considered, including the double coil and various orientations of the single coil. The results can be used to determine when the influence of the boundaries is negligible enough to allow the use of more simplified geometries.

Transverse-field activation mechanism in magnetic stimulation of peripheral nerves

The activating function of peripheral nerves in magnetic stimulation is thought to be the gradient of the induced electric field component parallel to the nerve. This implies that there are several orientations of the coil that should not excite nerves. We show that these orientations, however, often yield high-amplitude and even supramaximal muscle response, indicating that the model of the activating function has to be modified. We propose that the electric field component perpendicular to the nerve is responsible for these unexpected muscle responses. Our conclusion is based on practical experiments with different coils and on computer simulations of the induced electric field and its gradient.

Somatotopic blocking of sensation with navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation of the primary somatosensory cortex

We demonstrate that spatially accurate and selective stimulation is crucial when cortical functions are studied by the creation of temporary lesions with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Previously, the interpretation of the TMS results has been hampered by inaccurate knowledge of the site and strength of the induced electric current in the brain. With a Navigated Brain Stimulation (NBS) system, which provides real‐time magnetic resonance image (MRI)‐guided targeting of the TMS‐induced electric field, we found that TMS of a spatially restricted cortical S1 thenar area is sufficient to abolish sensation from a weak electric stimulation of the corresponding skin area. We demonstrate that with real‐time navigation, TMS can be repeatably directed at millimeter‐level precision to a target area defined on the MRI. The stimulation effect was temporally and spatially specific: the greatest inhibition of sensation occurred when TMS was applied 20 ms after the cutaneous test stimulus and the TMS effect was sensitive to 8–13 mm displacements of the induced electric field pattern. The results also indicate that TMS selectively to S1 is sufficient to abolish perception of cutaneous stimulation of the corresponding skin area. Hum Brain Mapp, 2005.

Coil optimization for magnetic brain stimulation

Further development of magnetic brain stimulation requires smaller coils, smaller power consumption, and less coil heating. This study addresses the optimization of the complete stimulator and in particular the coil. We describe the coil structure in terms of simple mathematical functions and examine the influence of changes in the structure on several figures of merit. A few optimal coil geometries suitable for repetitive brain stimulation are depicted. It is demonstrated that today’s coils are far from optimal and that, for instance, the power consumption can be reduced remarkably from the level of todays equipment. Improvements may act as a springboard toward new applications.

A volume-conduction analysis of magnetic stimulation of peripheral nerves

Magnetic stimulation is a method to study several nervous disorders as well as the intact nervous system in humans. Interest in magnetic stimulation of peripheral nerves has grown rapidly, but difficulties in locating the site of excitation have prevented it from becoming a routine clinical tool. It has been reasoned that the activating function of long and straight nerves is the first spatial derivative of the electric field component parallel to the nerves. Therefore, to predict the site of activation, one has to compute this field feature. We describe here an analytical mathematical model and investigate the influence of volume-conductor shape on the induced field, predictions of the site of activation are given for typical stimulation coil arrangements and these results are compared with experimental and literature data. Comparisons suggest that the activating function is not simply the spatial gradient of the induced electric field, but that other mechanisms are also involved. The model can be easily utilized in the search for more efficient coil constructions and improved placements with respect to the target nerves.

Two-dimensional filter to facilitate detection of transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions

This paper implements a filtering technique to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and, in turn, the detection of transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs), generated by healthy human cochlea. One can increase the SNR by compiling an image of recorded TEOAE from more than one stimulus intensity, averaged over a few sweeps, which can be further processed by means of two-dimensional spatial mean filters. Averaging some 60 sweeps recorded to stimuli at several intensity levels requires one-forth of the collection time needed for a classical set of responses (average of 260 sweeps), and obtains approximately the same final SNR. The relation between the performances of the proposed technique and the SNR of the rapidly acquired responses before filtering is also investigated.

Frequency-related effects in the optimization of coils for the magnetic stimulation of the nervous system

Magnetic stimulation of the nervous system is a noninvasive technique with a large number of applications in neurological diagnosis, brain research, and, recently, therapy. New applications require engineering modifications in order to decrease power consumption and coil heating. This can be accomplished by optimized coils with minimized resistance. In this study the influence of some frequency-related effects (skin and proximity effect) on the coil resistance are discussed, together with the role played by wire shape, wire section, and twisting effect. The results show that the coil resistance increases with frequency. As an example, for a 20-mm/sup 2/ circular wire section, the skin effect in the typical frequency range of magnetic stimulator devices (2-4 kHz) increases the coil resistance up to about 45% with respect to its dc value. Moreover, the influence of the frequency is lower for flat wire sections and reasonably small helix twist angle of the coil.