Simulation of induced electric field distribution based on five-sphere model used in rTMS

Abstract

Repetitive Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a relatively new technique, which is non-invasive and painless used to stimulate the central and peripheral neural tissues. The principle is generating time-varying magnetic fields to stimulate the cerebral cortex neuron and inducing eddy current inside the tissues. Many researches study on the distributing of magnetic field and electric field induced inside the human brain, whereas the static electric field was neglected roughly in many studies. In this paper, a five-sphere model is established to simulate the human head used in rTMS. According to the different dielectric properties of the head tissues, the Laplace equation of static electric field is deduced by both of Gauss theorem and current's continuity principle. Boundary conditions used in different interface between two adjacent layers in the five-sphere model is proposed in this paper. Simulating study is conducted to calculate the distribution of the electric field in the model. Simulating results suggest that the model is useful to get the parameters of the most focus coil. Therefore this study could be potential to promote the development of rTMS stimulator.