Robotized image-guided transcranial magnetic stimulation, a novel technique for functional brain-mapping

Introduction: One of the major difficulties for neurosurgical interventions in or close of the central region of the brain is the individual distribution of functional areas. This is particularly important when dealing with tumours that cause displacement or migration of such areas. The functional MRI (fMRI) is the most common procedure for non-invasive functional brain-mapping. However, this technique does not completely meet the needs of neurosurgeons, because it does not allow the localization of single functional areas, like motor cortical areas of specific muscles. We here present a novel non-invasive and p…