UC San Diego

Nervous stimulation with electric methods not only has a long history in the treatment of many conditions but also in the last two decades has been used increasingly as a powerful functional brain mapping tool alongside other imaging techniques. This technology has been used to record the stimulation-evoked activity of the stimulated location.

This research describes work surrounding a novel technique for brain and nervous stimulation using the electric field as the medium; particularly transcranial brain stimulation by an electric field and its possible advantages compared to relatively similar techniques.

This thesis discusses our knowledge regarding brain electrical activities as they relate to this project. We will present discoveries concerning the role of electric fields in the brain and the effects of external electric fields on neuronal function. Then we discuss our new prototype, its design, and some results from simulations. Our device aims at introducing the use of electric fields in modifying the functional activity of the brain in a precise and accurate manner, one that surpasses that of other current methods, minimizing some of the side effects, and maximizing effectiveness in altering desired brain function.

The goal in this thesis is to demonstrate the potential that this technology can provide us. We show that in theory this device could be used as a very high-resolution brain stimulation device. we leave the speculation about impacts of this device in the medical world to the readers imagination.