Radio-wave Induced Neural Plasticity

Do you know someone who suffers from chronic pain? It may surprise you to hear that one in ten people suffer from chronic pain, a condition commonly caused by peripheral nerve damage. A novel treatment for nerve damage uses a metal ring intermittently stimulated by a Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) device. It is known that electrical stimulation of damaged nerves improves their regrowth, however, it was unknown how the TMS device and metal ring were able to provide this stimulation. The main goal for this project was to identify mechanisms underlying this stimulation using a computational model which could precisely measure electric and magnetic fields within tissue. We found that strong electric fields were generated around the edges of the ring, providing electrical stimulation to the surface of the nerve bundle and explaining a key observed phenomenon.