Method and apparatus for providing transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to an individual

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10874870-B2
Application number	US-201716099125-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 5, 2017
Priority date	May 5, 2016
Publication date	Dec 29, 2020
Grant date	Dec 29, 2020

Abstract

An apparatus for applying Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) to the brain of an individual comprising: a head mount; a plurality of magnet assemblies for releasable mounting on the head mount; each of the magnet assemblies comprises a permanent magnet, and at least one of (i) a movement mechanism for moving the permanent magnet and/or (ii) a magnetic shield shutter mechanism, to provide a rapidly changing magnetic field; and a computerized controller for operating at least one of the movement mechanism and the magnetic shield shutter mechanism of at least one of the magnet assemblies to apply a rapidly changing magnetic field to the brain of the individual, wherein the computerized controller is configured to provide one of intermittent oscillatory stimulation and continuous oscillatory stimulation, to induce weak electric currents in the brain of an individual so as to modify the natural electrical activity of the brain of the individual.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for applying Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) to the brain of an individual, wherein the apparatus comprises:
a head mount for disposition on the head of an individual;
a plurality of magnet assemblies for releasable mounting on the head mount, wherein each of the magnet assemblies comprises a permanent magnet, and at least one of (i) a movement mechanism for moving the permanent magnet and/or (ii) a magnetic shield shutter mechanism, whereby to provide a rapidly changing magnetic field; and
a computerized controller for operating at least one of the movement mechanism and the magnetic shield shutter mechanism of at least one of the magnet assemblies so as to apply a rapidly changing magnetic field to the brain of the individual, wherein the computerized controller is configured to operate at least one of the movement mechanism and the magnetic shield shutter mechanism of the at least one of the magnet assemblies so as to provide intermittent oscillatory stimulation and, simultaneously, to operate at least one of the movement mechanism and the magnetic shield shutter mechanism of at least one of the magnet assemblies so as to provide continuous oscillatory stimulation, whereby to induce weak electric currents in the brain of an individual so as to modify the natural electrical activity of the brain of the individual.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the computerized controller operates at least one of the movement mechanism and the magnetic shield shutter mechanism of a plurality of the magnet assemblies in a coordinated fashion so as to induce the desired weak electric currents in the brain of an individual so as to modify the natural electrical activity of the brain of the individual.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein each of the magnet assemblies is configured to provide a rapidly changing magnetic field of at least 500-600 Tesla/second.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the computerized controller is configured to provide intermittent oscillatory stimulation, wherein the rapidly changing magnetic field is applied for a stimulus period of a given duration, wherein the stimulus period has a repetition rate of a given frequency, and further wherein the stimulus periods are separated by periods of substantial quiet.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein the stimulus period has a duration of 1-500 ms.

6. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein the stimulus period has a repetition rate of 0.1-10 Hz.

7. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the computerized controller is configured to provide continuous oscillatory stimulation, wherein the rapidly changing magnetic field is applied continuously throughout the duration of a stimulation session.

8. Apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising a plurality of electrodes for monitoring the electrical activity of the brain.

9. A method for providing Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) to an individual, the method comprising:
providing apparatus comprising:
a head mount for disposition on the head of an individual;
a plurality of magnet assemblies for releasable mounting on the head mount, wherein each of the magnet assemblies comprises a permanent magnet, and at least one of (i) a movement mechanism for moving the permanent magnet and/or (ii) a magnetic shield shutter mechanism, whereby to provide a rapidly changing magnetic field; and

a computerized controller for operating at least one of the movement mechanism and the magnetic shield shutter mechanism of at least one of the magnet assemblies so as to apply a rapidly changing magnetic field to the brain of the individual, wherein the computerized controller is configured to operate at least one of the movement mechanism and the magnetic shield shutter mechanism of the at least one of the magnet assemblies so as to provide intermittent oscillatory stimulation and, simultaneously, to operate at least one of the movement mechanism and the magnetic shield shutter mechanism of at least one of the magnet assemblies so as to provide continuous oscillatory stimulation, whereby to induce weak electric currents in the brain of an individual so as to modify the natural electrical activity of the brain of the individual;
positioning the head mount on the head of the individual, and positioning a selected number of magnet assemblies on the head mount at selected locations; and
selectively providing a rapidly changing magnetic field with at least one of the magnet assemblies.

10. A method according to claim 9 wherein the computerized controller operates at least one of the movement mechanism and the magnetic shield shutter mechanism of a plurality of the magnet assemblies in a coordinated fashion so as to induce the desired weak electric currents in the brain of an individual so as to modify the natural electrical activity of the brain of the individual.

11. A method according to claim 9 wherein each of the magnet assemblies is configured to provide a rapidly changing magnetic field of at least 500-600 Tesla/second.

12. A method according to claim 9 wherein the computerized controller is configured to provide intermittent oscillatory stimulation, wherein the rapidly changing magnetic field is applied for a stimulus period of a given duration, wherein the stimulus period has a repetition rate of a given frequency, and further wherein the stimulus periods are separated by periods of substantial quiet.

13. A method according to claim 12 wherein the stimulus period has a duration of 1-500 ms.

14. A method according to claim 12 wherein the stimulus period has a repetition rate of 0.1-10 Hz.

15. A method according to claim 9 wherein the computerized controller is configured to provide continuous oscillatory stimulation, wherein the rapidly changing magnetic field is applied continuously throughout the duration of a stimulation session.

16. A method according to claim 9 further comprising a plurality of electrodes for monitoring the electrical activity of the brain.

Assignees

• Methodist Hospital
• Univ Cornell

Inventors

• Helekar Santosh A
• Voss Henning U

Classifications

• A61N2/06

  using magnetic fields produced by permanent magnets (A61N2/12 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A61B5/05

  Detecting, measuring or recording for diagnosis by means of electric currents or magnetic fields; Measuring using microwaves or radio waves (measuring movement of the entire body or parts thereof A61B5/11; detecting, measuring or recording bioelectric or biomagnetic signals of the body or parts thereof A61B5/24) · CPC title

• A61N2/006 Primary

  for magnetic stimulation of nerve tissue · CPC title

• A61N2/12

  using variable magnetic fields obtained by mechanical movement · CPC title

• A61B5/369

  Electroencephalography [EEG] · CPC title