Deep TMS Device Test

Brainsway, the company creating the new deep TMS device, has just gotten the go ahead from the FDA to start a multi-center clinical trial of their new TMS device on depressed patients. They will test it on patients for 20 sessions over the course of 4 weeks. The sessions will last 20-minutes each and will help the symptoms of major depression. The deep TMS will be able to stimulate more regions of the brain with electromagnetism than the neuronetics TMS device that just recently got FDA clearance. The neuronetics device can only penetrate 1-2 cms deep into the brain. The new study is expected to begin in january 2009. It will be conducted at several sites such as Columbia University, Howard University, Johns Hopkins University Medical Center, Davis Hospital and UCLA. According to Brainsway, the effectiveness of this treatment has lasted for as long as 24 weeks. Here is what area of the brain they will target.

Includes 20 patients.These patients will be given 4 weeks (5 days a week) of deep TMS, 20 minutes each session, to the prefrontal cortex bilateraly using H2 coil, in frequency of 0.1 HZ, with intensity of 120 % of motor threshold. H2-coil is designed to stimulate deep prefrontal brain regions bilaterally (without any preferencefor either hemisphere). The effective part of the coil, which has contact with the patient's scalp, includes 10 strips of 14-22 cm length.These strips are oriented in a right-left direction (lateral-medial axis).This coil is destined to stimulate lateral-medial neuronal fibers.

Trials for other brain disorders will likely follow. They may eventually test this device for the treatment of strokes, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, addiction, and post traumatic stress disorder. I think this will also become a novel research tool that will find increasing use in the future.