New Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Clinic Offers Noninvasive Treatment For Major Depression

Description

New Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Clinic Offers Noninvasive Treatment For Major Depression

ScienceDaily (Nov. 7, 2009) — Rush University Medical Center has opened the Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Clinic to offer patients suffering from major depression a safe, effective, non-drug treatment. TMS therapy is the first FDA-approved, non-invasive antidepressant device-based treatment clinically proven for treatment of depression.

Psychiatrists at Rush University Medical Center were among the first to test the technique and Dr. Philip Janicak, professor of psychiatry and lead investigator at Rush for the clinical trials of TMS, helped to develop this therapy.

The TMS therapy system delivers highly focused magnetic field pulses to a specific portion of the brain, the left prefrontal cortex, in order to stimulate the areas of the brain linked to depression. The repeated short bursts of magnetic energy introduced through the scalp excite neurons in the brain.

Depression affects at least 14 million American adults each year. Researchers estimate that by the year 2020, depression will be the ...

Original URL

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091105121046.htm

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091105121046.htm