W. Lohr
Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia, United States
Keywords: TMS, Transcranial magnetic stimulation, phantom, carbon nanotubes, PDMS, dipole probe, triaxial dipole
Transcranial magnetic stimulation has been found effective in the treatment of neurological conditions and is approved to treat depression and OCD. TMS trials on live subjects are not always appropriate, leading to the development of human phantoms that mimic the electrical and anatomical features of the human brain. These phantoms are created using magnetic MRI and 3d printing. Yet there are no reported animal phantoms of similar design. A brain phantom for rats is needed to accelerate the study of neuromodulation techniques. The main objective of this project is to develop a useful rat brain model that mimics the anatomical features and electrical properties of a rat for TMS research and training. We initially obtained MRIs from public databases to create accurate models and 3D printed molds of the brain. A composite material of carbon nanotubes and Polydimethylsiloxane is used to mimic the electrical properties of the brain. This composite is mixed, injected into the molds, and left to cure in a vacuum chamber to form the brain. Currently the anatomical accuracy, conductivity and induced brain voltage due to the magnetic field have been characterized.