Design of coil holder for the improved maneuvering in concurrent TMS-MRI

Abstract

Background: Concurrent transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is time-consuming because of the limited space in the MRI bore and the sophisticated placement and orientation of the TMS coil to elicit the desired brain activities and behaviors. Objective: We developed a TMS coil holder capable of quick adjustment of the TMS coil position and orientation. The holder can also hold an MRI receiver coil array. Methods: A holder with one controlling knob, two omni-direction rotation joints, and two in-plane rotation joints was developed. Results: Different TMS coil positions and orientations can be arranged and fixed in seconds. The holder can also accommodate two TMS coils to allow for multi-coil TMS-MRI. Conclusion: Our development significantly improves the workflow of the concurrent TMS-MRI in new neuroscience studies and clinical applications.

Keywords

• Holder
• Concurrent
• Simultaneous
• TMS-MRI
• TMS-fMRI
• Multimodal