Giovanni Calixte
BME PhD Defense Presentation

Date: 2025-04-24
Time: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Location / Meeting Link: UA Whitaker 1232 / https://emory.zoom.us/j/97827363969

Committee Members:
Robert Butera (Advisor); William D. Hunt; Dieter Jaeger; Hang Lu; Svjetlana Miocinovic


Title: An investigation into the efficacy and utility of micromagnetic stimulation as a means of exciting neural tissue

Abstract:
Micro-magnetic stimulation (µMS) through micro-scale coils is a rapidly advancing form of neuromodulation that possesses qualities that give it the potential to be used as an alternative to electrical stimulation in cases where it cannot be used. However, reliability of the technique is inconsistent as reported in the peer reviewed literature, suggesting that there is not a strong understanding of the basis of the technique. In this thesis, we provide empirical evidence of the efficacy of µMS in dissociated cortical cultures and a review of µMS’ consistency across early pioneering works. We then simulate the electric fields generated by µMS using COMSOL and couple the fields to neuron models in Python to study their response across a range of parameters in neural stimulation. This is followed by an aim to measure the electric fields of these micro-scale coils to determine whether they surpass stimulus thresholds reported in literature. Our key findings suggest that µMS should not be feasible. Finally, we investigate confounding factors during µMS stimulation that may have effects being misattributed to µMS.