Abstract
Objective. Large structural brain changes, such as chronic stroke lesions, alter the current pathways throughout the patients’ head and therefore have to be taken into account when performing transcranial direct current stimulation simulations. Approach. We implement, test and distribute the first MATLAB pipeline that automatically generates realistic and individualized volume conduction head models of chronic stroke patients, by combining the already existing software SimNIBS, for the mesh generation, and lesion identification with neighborhood data analysis, for the lesion identification. To highlight the impact of our pipeline, we investigated the sensitivity of the electric field distribution to the lesion location and lesion conductivity in 16 stroke patients’ datasets. Main results. Our pipeline automatically generates 1 mm-resolution tetrahedral meshes including the lesion compartment in less than three hours. Moreover, for large lesions, we found a high sensitivity of the electric field distribution to the lesion conductivity value and location. Significance. This work facilitates optimizing electrode configurations with the goal to obtain more focal brain stimulations of the target volumes in rehabilitation for chronic stroke patients.
Highlights
Stroke is the leading cause of long-term adult disability worldwide
We describe: (1) the dataset used in the study; (2) the MATLAB pipeline that automatically generates volume conduction head models for chronic stroke patients; (3) the SimNIBS Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) simulations
The pipeline The MATLAB-based automatic pipeline we introduce requires as input a T1w MRI of the subject and generates a realistic and individualized volumetric mesh which includes the lesion compartment of a chronic stroke patient
Summary
Stroke is the leading cause of long-term adult disability worldwide. A deficit in oxygen supply due to either a hemorrhage or an infarction causes damage to a certain brain area, lesioning the tissue. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is one of the therapeutic interventions aiming at stimulating the reorganization of the motor cortex to improve motor impairments and enhance recovery. During tDCS, anodal and cathodal electrodes are placed on the scalp and a lowintensity direct current, commonly between 0.5 and 2 mA, is delivered and conducted by head tissues. It has been reported that cortical regions exposed to higher electric field strength are more likely to modulate [5]. In motor stroke rehabilitation, for example, it is crucial to target the motor cortex precisely and with a sufficiently strong electric field
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