Numerical simulation of transcranial static magnetic fields for the treatment of global epilepsy in children

Abstract

[Abstract] Transcranial static magnetic stimulation has shown the capacity to decrease systematically the cortical excitability in the treatment of epilepsy. Nevertheless, the application of these therapies to non-focal epilepsies is limited. This paper investigates on the numerical evaluation of promising strategies based on the application of static magnetic fields with multiple magnets on children. Results show that a ten-magnet configuration on the child's head generates a magnetic flux density of 0.10 T in more than 70% of the brain cortex and more than 0.05 T in deep areas near the brain's base. Conversely, the interaction between individual magnetic fields leads to regions of lower flux density, suggesting that not only the number of magnets, but also their relative position and orientation, are critical parameters. Thus, based on image diagnosis, it is possible to define a personalising procedure and develop an effective therapy of global epilepsy that penetrates sufficiently into the brain´s volume.