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. 2012;7(9):e44040.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0044040. Epub 2012 Sep 5.

Magneto-electric nano-particles for non-invasive brain stimulation

Kun Yue  1 , Rakesh Guduru, Jeongmin Hong, Ping Liang, Madhavan Nair, Sakhrat Khizroev
Affiliations

Magneto-electric nano-particles for non-invasive brain stimulation

Kun Yue et al. PLoS One. 2012.

Abstract

This paper for the first time discusses a computational study of using magneto-electric (ME) nanoparticles to artificially stimulate the neural activity deep in the brain. The new technology provides a unique way to couple electric signals in the neural network to the magnetic dipoles in the nanoparticles with the purpose to enable a non-invasive approach. Simulations of the effect of ME nanoparticles for non-invasively stimulating the brain of a patient with Parkinson's Disease to bring the pulsed sequences of the electric field to the levels comparable to those of healthy people show that the optimized values for the concentration of the 20-nm nanoparticles (with the magneto-electric (ME) coefficient of 100 V cm(-1) Oe(-1) in the aqueous solution) is 3 × 10(6) particles/cc, and the frequency of the externally applied 300-Oe magnetic field is 80 Hz.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Illustration of the deep brain stimulation approach.
Illustration of the deep brain stimulation approach.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Electric pulses in the brain of a healthy person.
Typical electric pulsed sequences triggered in the four regions of the brain under study of a healthy person under normal conditions.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Electric pulses in the brain of a patient with Parkinson's Disease.
Typical electric pulsed sequences triggered in the four regions of the brain under study of a patient suffering from Parkinson's Disease before the treatment by the ME nanoparticles. Typical electric pulsed sequences triggered in the four regions of the brain under study of a patient suffering from Parkinson's Disease before the treatment by the ME nanoparticles.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Electric pulses of a Parkinson's patient after the non-invasive ME-nanoparticle treatment.
Electric pulsed sequences triggered in the four regions of the brain under study of a patient suffering from Parkinson's Disease after the treatment with the ME nanoparticles at the optimized values of the nanoparticle concentration (of 3×10 6 particles/cc in aqueous solution) and the stimulation frequency (of 80 Hz).
Figure 5
Figure 5. Electric pulses of a Parkinson's patient after the invasive DBS treatment.
Typical electric pulsed sequences triggered in the four regions of the brain under study of a patient suffering from Parkinson's Disease after a treatment by the invasive DBS procedure with electric signals.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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