This guide has been written to provide an overview of the technique of magnetic stimulation from first principles through to some of the clinical applications now feasible. Also included are details about different stimulator types and a look at more recent developments. A list of some 500 papers is provided organised by discipline. Last revised 21st July 2006.   A new version will be published in 2009.

Since the 1990s, many researchers have concentrated on the potential uses of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in Stroke.  The potential uses postulated have included: using TMS as a method of predicting recovery from Stroke; as an adjunctive, enhancing treatment prior to physiotherapy; as a treatment in its own right to improve the patient's feeling, movement control and language skills through influencing the brain's plasticity, responsiveness or excitability.

The benefits of transcranial magnetic stimulation were first demonstrated in 1985. Recent developments mean that the technique is now moving out of the research laboratory and into the clinical setting. This report provides an overview of the evidence for the safety of transcranial magnetic stimulation as a medical technique.