Whitland, Wales, UK, 6 August 09: Pioneering research into the diagnosis and treatment of a number of neurological conditions through magnetic stimulation was recently celebrated at the 3rd annual Magstim TMS Summer School. The event, held in conjunction with University College London (UCL), saw the announcement of the Magstim Young Investigator Award and Poster Prizes.
Dr Charlie Stagg of the University of Oxford received the Young Investigator Award for her work in exploring the potential use of TMS and tDCS as post Stroke rehabilitative therapies, whilst the 2009 Poster Prize was awarded to Marius Moisa of the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Germany. Mr Moisa and colleagues developed a novel method which combines TMS and continuous arterial spin labelling (CASL) for the first time as an alternative to more traditional imaging methods to assess the effect of TMS on brain connectivity. This new combination enables the measurement of both blood oxygenation level-dependant (BOLD) signal and blood perfusion, an important advantage when studying the effects of TMS on brain connectivity.
Yet again, the Magstim Summer School has continued to advance the use of brain stimulation techniques as a means of improving our understanding of specific neural structures. It is hoped that with the forum discussions and research techniques presented at the Summer School, techniques such as TMS can be utilized further in developing possible rehabilitative treatments for conditions, such as Parkinson’s, Depression and Stroke.
Magstim provide clinicians and researchers with state-of-the-art stimulation and monitoring equipment to facilitate the assessment, protection and improvement in function of the human nervous system, with effort focused on applications related to magnetic neurological stimulation and intra-operative nerve monitoring.
Magstim has gained an international reputation for the development, manufacture and distribution of electronic medical devices and has longstanding contacts with key opinion leaders within the clinical and academic sectors.
