Difference between electrical and magnetic nerve stimulation: a case for the transverse field?

The cable model for nerve activation is based, among other things, on the assumption of cylindrical symmetry. For the externally applied field in the case of electrical or magnetic stimulation the implication is that the transverse component of the field should be negligible. The present theoretical work shows that for electrical stimulation this assumption is valid in most of the cases, but for magnetic stimulation the assumption is not generally valid, although, with the note that this is strongly dependent on the resistivity of the peirineurium of the nerve.