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Abstract

Disclosed is a means and method for the treatment of migraine headaches. Patients who have migraine headaches typically have a band of excited brain neurons that are a precursor of the headache. By placing an intense alternating magnetic field onto a certain region of the brain, an electrical current can be generated in the cerebral cortex that can depolarize these excited brain neurons. This procedure can stop a migraine headache in some patients or at least decrease its severity. The device to perform this function can be called a 'magnetic depolarizer'. The magnetic depolarizer can be placed in some headgear such as a bicycle helmet in order to place the magnetic field at the correct location relative to the patient's cerebral cortex. This technique can be particularly valuable for patients who have a perceptible aura that occurs prior to the onset of a migraine headache. A visual aura caused by the progression of an excited band of neurons in a patient's occipital lobe, which aura occurs 20 to 30 minutes prior to the onset of head pain, would be particularly well treated by means of the magnetic depolarizer.

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First Claim