Collaborative robot (cobot) controlled system for transcranial magnetic stimulation

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Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is a method for non-invasive neuromodulation that uses strong currents passed to a coil placed next to the scalp to induce electric fields and currents in the brain. The fact that the electric field is induced by a time-varying magnetic field enables the stimulation to penetrate the skull efficiently, safely, and painlessly. Therefore, TMS has become highly popular for both basic scientific research and for diagnostic and therapeutic applications such as treatment of drug-resistant depression. It is well known that the effects of the TMS-induced brain activations propagate from the primary target area to the secondary areas that are anatomically connected to it, generating a network-level response. This observation has important consequences for understanding the effects of the stimulation. First, the primary target location must be defined with respect to individual anatomy and the stimulation location maintained consistently. Second, neuroimaging methods are needed to record how the brain networks respond to the stimulation. TMS neuronavigation systems have rapidly gained popularity in the scientific community due to the development of the accurate frameless stereotactic systems utilizing subject-specific Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) data to define stimulation targets. While it is possible to obtain accurate manual coil positioning under MRI guided neuronavigation, for more complex experiments this may cause significant operator fatigue due to holding the bulky TMS coil in a fixed position for extended periods of time resulting in unwanted variability in the spatial targeting of the stimulation. Mechanical coil holders can be employed to mitigate the operator fatigue, but any movement of the subject’s head will require a time-consuming repositioning of the holder device. Robotic positioning of the TMS coil is arguably the most accurate and efficient method for resolving these issues, but the instrumentation is rather costly, and the system has limited mobility/portability due to its large size. Recently, collaborative robot (cobot) technology was introduced to lower the cost and increase the mobility of automatic TMS coil positioning. The system can be piloted also manually and after initial guidance of the TMS coil to the desired target by a human operator, the TMS cobot will maintain consistent positioning of the coil with a high degree of accuracy and automatic detection/correction for head motion. In this proposal, the goal is to acquire an instrument system for neuronavigated TMS controlled with a collaborative robot. Due to its transportable nature, the system can be used in conjunction with neuroimaging methods such as functional MRI (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG), magnetoencephalography (MEG), and Positron Emission Tomography (PET). The capability of and combining TMS with neuroimaging to observe and quantify the neuromodulation effects enable parallel translational studies on potential new therapeutic TMS applications and more detailed investigations of the fundamental activation mechanisms. The instrument system will be a unique resource for a large group of users in the local area.