Design and Application of Magnetic Stimulator for Small Animals

The purpose of this paper is to study a magnetic stimulation device for small animals, which includes power supply module, charge-discharge circuit module, control system and stimulation coil. This device is small enough to be carried on small animals. It is powered by 12V rechargeable DC power supply, and the voltage regulator of BL8078 converts 12V to 3.3V to supply power for the single chip computer. In the experiment, the stimulator drived the stimulation coils placed on the head or leg of the animal to generate a time-varying magnetic field, which could generate an induced micro-current to deliver stimulation, and the leg EMG was synchronously recorded. Results showed that when the brain or leg sciatic nerve was stimulated by magnetic stimulator, the leg EMG was significantly strengthened. When the output frequency of the magnetic stimulation system was increased, the output current decreased, and the EMG enhancement response decreased. It shows that the magnetic stimulator can effectively regulate the function of brain and peripheral nerves by driving the stimulation coils.