Patent ID: 9744373
Date: 2017-08-29
CPC Classifications: A61N

Claim:
1. A computer-assisted method for constructing an apparatus for transcranial magnetic stimulation, comprising: modeling an apparatus for transcranial magnetic stimulation as an array of coils that induce an electric field at a given distance, each coil configured to receive a respective driving current; formulating a set of designs for the apparatus, each design is represented by a vector such that each element of the vector store a value of current driving a respective coil in the array of coils; iteratively applying a genetic algorithm to the set of designs by determining the electric field generated by each coil in the array of coils individually, calculating a total electric field induced by the array of coils from combining the individual electric fields from each of the coils in the array of coils, and evaluating each design according to a cost function that minimizes volume excited by the electric field at the given distance, thereby yielding an optimal design for the apparatus; and constructing the apparatus for transcranial magnetic stimulation based on the optimal design for the apparatus, wherein the apparatus for transcranial magnetic stimulation is configured to receive a driving current from a single source of current and has an array of coils electrically connected in series to each other, each coil being wound in a circle and a diameter of the circle is different amongst the coils in the array of coils.