A robotic system for automated image-guided transcranial magnetic stimulation

This paper presents a new robotic system for automated image-guided transcranial magnetic stimulation, a noninvasive technique for the treatment of neurologic pathologies such as depression. This stimulation technique requires the accurate positioning of a magnetic coil in order to induce a specific cortical excitation. The neurologist currently positions the coil manually by means of a navigation system, which does not allow the precise clinical evaluation of the procedure. In this paper, a novel robotic system is proposed to assist the neurologist during a TMS session. The proposed system and its control are designed to satisfy simultaneously safety and accuracy requirements.