Robot-Assisted Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (Robo-TMS): A Review
transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive and safe brain stimulation procedure with growing applications in clinical treatments and neuroscience research. However, achieving precise stimulation over prolonged sessions poses significant challenges. By integrating advanced robotics wit...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IEEE
2025-01-01
|
| Series: | IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11071331/ |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849321226105782272 |
|---|---|
| author | Wenzhi Bai Andrew Weightman Rory J O'Connor Zhengtao Ding Mingming Zhang Sheng Quan Xie Zhenhong Li |
| author_facet | Wenzhi Bai Andrew Weightman Rory J O'Connor Zhengtao Ding Mingming Zhang Sheng Quan Xie Zhenhong Li |
| author_sort | Wenzhi Bai |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive and safe brain stimulation procedure with growing applications in clinical treatments and neuroscience research. However, achieving precise stimulation over prolonged sessions poses significant challenges. By integrating advanced robotics with conventional TMS, robot-assisted TMS (Robo-TMS) has emerged as a promising solution to enhance efficacy and streamline procedures. Despite growing interest, a comprehensive review from an engineering perspective has been notably absent. This paper systematically examines four critical aspects of Robo-TMS: hardware and integration; calibration and registration; neuronavigation systems; and control systems. We review state-of-the-art technologies in each area, identify current limitations, and propose future research directions. Our findings suggest that broader clinical adoption of Robo-TMS is currently limited by unverified clinical applicability, high operational complexity, and substantial implementation costs. Emerging technologies—including marker-less tracking, non-rigid registration, learning-based electric field (E-field) modelling, individualised magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) generation, robot-assisted multi-locus TMS (Robo-mTMS), and automated calibration and registration—present promising pathways to address these challenges. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-22d59f75162641be82bb6ca9b917f2ff |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1534-4320 1558-0210 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IEEE |
| record_format | Article |
| series | IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering |
| spelling | doaj-art-22d59f75162641be82bb6ca9b917f2ff2025-08-20T03:49:49ZengIEEEIEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering1534-43201558-02102025-01-01332606262110.1109/TNSRE.2025.358565111071331Robot-Assisted Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (Robo-TMS): A ReviewWenzhi Bai0https://orcid.org/0009-0000-7781-6700Andrew Weightman1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7232-4942Rory J O'Connor2Zhengtao Ding3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0690-7853Mingming Zhang4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8016-1856Sheng Quan Xie5https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2641-2620Zhenhong Li6https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2583-5082Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Manchester, Manchester, U.K.Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Manchester, Manchester, U.K.School of Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, U.K.Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Manchester, Manchester, U.K.Department of Biomedical Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, ChinaSchool of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds, U.K.Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Manchester, Manchester, U.K.transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive and safe brain stimulation procedure with growing applications in clinical treatments and neuroscience research. However, achieving precise stimulation over prolonged sessions poses significant challenges. By integrating advanced robotics with conventional TMS, robot-assisted TMS (Robo-TMS) has emerged as a promising solution to enhance efficacy and streamline procedures. Despite growing interest, a comprehensive review from an engineering perspective has been notably absent. This paper systematically examines four critical aspects of Robo-TMS: hardware and integration; calibration and registration; neuronavigation systems; and control systems. We review state-of-the-art technologies in each area, identify current limitations, and propose future research directions. Our findings suggest that broader clinical adoption of Robo-TMS is currently limited by unverified clinical applicability, high operational complexity, and substantial implementation costs. Emerging technologies—including marker-less tracking, non-rigid registration, learning-based electric field (E-field) modelling, individualised magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) generation, robot-assisted multi-locus TMS (Robo-mTMS), and automated calibration and registration—present promising pathways to address these challenges.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11071331/Transcranial magnetic stimulationnon-invasive brain stimulationmedical robotsimage-guided robotic systemsregistrationneuronavigation |
| spellingShingle | Wenzhi Bai Andrew Weightman Rory J O'Connor Zhengtao Ding Mingming Zhang Sheng Quan Xie Zhenhong Li Robot-Assisted Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (Robo-TMS): A Review IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering Transcranial magnetic stimulation non-invasive brain stimulation medical robots image-guided robotic systems registration neuronavigation |
| title | Robot-Assisted Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (Robo-TMS): A Review |
| title_full | Robot-Assisted Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (Robo-TMS): A Review |
| title_fullStr | Robot-Assisted Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (Robo-TMS): A Review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Robot-Assisted Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (Robo-TMS): A Review |
| title_short | Robot-Assisted Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (Robo-TMS): A Review |
| title_sort | robot assisted transcranial magnetic stimulation robo tms a review |
| topic | Transcranial magnetic stimulation non-invasive brain stimulation medical robots image-guided robotic systems registration neuronavigation |
| url | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11071331/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT wenzhibai robotassistedtranscranialmagneticstimulationrobotmsareview AT andrewweightman robotassistedtranscranialmagneticstimulationrobotmsareview AT roryjoconnor robotassistedtranscranialmagneticstimulationrobotmsareview AT zhengtaoding robotassistedtranscranialmagneticstimulationrobotmsareview AT mingmingzhang robotassistedtranscranialmagneticstimulationrobotmsareview AT shengquanxie robotassistedtranscranialmagneticstimulationrobotmsareview AT zhenhongli robotassistedtranscranialmagneticstimulationrobotmsareview |