Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Teragiwa, Mariko, Medina, Leonel E., Carvajal, Alonso, Yatsuda, Kanata, Yu, Wenwei, Gomez-Tames, Jose
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.21886
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866908425376497664
author Teragiwa, Mariko
Medina, Leonel E.
Carvajal, Alonso
Yatsuda, Kanata
Yu, Wenwei
Gomez-Tames, Jose
author_facet Teragiwa, Mariko
Medina, Leonel E.
Carvajal, Alonso
Yatsuda, Kanata
Yu, Wenwei
Gomez-Tames, Jose
contents Purpose: This study investigates the feasibility of transcutaneous interferential spinal cord stimulation (tISCS), a novel non-invasive neuromodulation method, using temporal interference to enhance focality and comfort in spinal cord stimulation. The central research question is whether tISCS can achieve targeted activation of spinal cord circuits while reducing unwanted stimulation of skin and muscle tissues, which are common limitations of conventional transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation (tSCS). Methods: A finite element model of the lower thorax was developed to simulate electric field distributions for various skin electrode montages. To address the computational bottleneck associated with high-resolution modeling and montage optimization, we implemented a leadfield-based Pareto optimization strategy to identify the electrode configuration that maximizes the electric field in the spinal cord and minimizes it in off-target tissues. tISCS montages were compared with tSCS montages in terms of focality and stimulation efficiency. Results: Optimized tISCS configurations significantly reduced electric field intensity in the skin by over 20-fold compared to tSCS. The ratio of spinal cord to skin electric fields increased by at least 10-fold, indicating enhanced focality. The injection current efficiency in tISCS can be leveraged to increase spinal cord electric fields by at least 5-fold while keeping skin exposure below the levels observed with tSCS. Conclusion: tISCS enables deeper and more selective spinal cord stimulation compared to tSCS, with substantially reduced off-target effects. This is the first computational demonstration of tISCS feasibility. Leadfield-guided Pareto optimization enables efficient montage selection, providing a foundation for future experimental applications.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_21886
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Transcutaneous Interference Spinal Cord Stimulation: Leadfield-Based Pareto Optimization of Electrode Montages for Improved Focality
Teragiwa, Mariko
Medina, Leonel E.
Carvajal, Alonso
Yatsuda, Kanata
Yu, Wenwei
Gomez-Tames, Jose
Medical Physics
Purpose: This study investigates the feasibility of transcutaneous interferential spinal cord stimulation (tISCS), a novel non-invasive neuromodulation method, using temporal interference to enhance focality and comfort in spinal cord stimulation. The central research question is whether tISCS can achieve targeted activation of spinal cord circuits while reducing unwanted stimulation of skin and muscle tissues, which are common limitations of conventional transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation (tSCS). Methods: A finite element model of the lower thorax was developed to simulate electric field distributions for various skin electrode montages. To address the computational bottleneck associated with high-resolution modeling and montage optimization, we implemented a leadfield-based Pareto optimization strategy to identify the electrode configuration that maximizes the electric field in the spinal cord and minimizes it in off-target tissues. tISCS montages were compared with tSCS montages in terms of focality and stimulation efficiency. Results: Optimized tISCS configurations significantly reduced electric field intensity in the skin by over 20-fold compared to tSCS. The ratio of spinal cord to skin electric fields increased by at least 10-fold, indicating enhanced focality. The injection current efficiency in tISCS can be leveraged to increase spinal cord electric fields by at least 5-fold while keeping skin exposure below the levels observed with tSCS. Conclusion: tISCS enables deeper and more selective spinal cord stimulation compared to tSCS, with substantially reduced off-target effects. This is the first computational demonstration of tISCS feasibility. Leadfield-guided Pareto optimization enables efficient montage selection, providing a foundation for future experimental applications.
title Transcutaneous Interference Spinal Cord Stimulation: Leadfield-Based Pareto Optimization of Electrode Montages for Improved Focality
topic Medical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.21886