Patent Document ID: 9456784
Application ID: 13829349
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. An apparatus for applying Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) to a patient, the apparatus comprising: a head mount for disposition on the head of the patient; and a plurality of magnet assemblies configured for releasable mounting on the head mount, wherein each of the magnet assemblies comprises a magnet for selectively providing a rapidly changing magnetic field capable of inducing weak electric currents in the brain of the patient so as to modify the natural electrical activity of the brain of the patient, wherein each of the magnet assemblies includes a permanent magnet and a motor for rotating the permanent magnet; a computerized controller configured to selectively activate the motor of at least one of the magnet assemblies to rotate the permanent magnet of that magnet assembly and thereby provide Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) to the patient, wherein: (i) the computerized controller is configured to activate the motor to rotate the permanent magnet for a stimulus period of a given duration, and the stimulus period has a repetition rate of a given frequency, and (ii) during the stimulus period, the computerized controller is configured to activate the motor to rotate the permanent magnet at a particular rate to generate a particular stimulating pattern; wherein the number of magnet assemblies mounted on the head mount, their individual positioning on the head mount, and their selective provision of the rapidly changing magnetic field is selected to allow the spatial, strength and temporal characteristics of the Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) to be custom tailored for the patient, whereby to provide patient-specific Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) therapy, to assist in diagnosis or to map out brain function in neuroscience research; wherein the computerized controller is configured to activate the motor to rotate the permanent magnet at a frequency of at least 400 Hertz and provide a dB/dt of at least 500-600 Tesla/second; wherein the stimulus period has a duration of 1-100 milliseconds; and wherein the repetition rate of the stimulus period is 0.1 to 2 Hertz.