AR Marker-Based Navigation Method for a TMS Robotic Device

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) requires highly accurate coil positioning, which is often achieved through the use of complex and expensive robotic systems. This work aims to develop a novel, simple, and cost-effective positioning system capable of precisely positioning a TMS coil at a target point on a patient’s cap and maintaining this alignment during involuntary head movements using a single low-cost webcam. The paper provides a description of the coil manipulator alongside tracking calculations based on AR markers. Testing of the proposed method on various routes from the coil’s starting point to the target point demonstrated its efficiency in terms of both response time and coil movement speed. Furthermore, testing the system’s reaction to target point movements during the TMS procedure proved that the application of the proposed method reduces the number of time periods during which the coil deviates outside the target point area.