Different TMS Devices: Patients have a choice
Currently five TMS systems are approved by the FDA for treating patients with depression who have not benefitted from antidepressant medication or who cannot tolerate them.
In 2013 the FDA cleared Brainsway Deep TMS system for the treatment of Depression. This system uses a revolutionary coil called the ‘H’ coil, invented at the National Institute of Health (NIH). The H-coil is able to directly stimulate deeper into the brain than the any of the TMS devices that use the figure-8 coil allowing it to reach ‘limbic’ areas of the brain that regulate mood and motivation. The H-coil is integrated into a ‘helmet’ that sits over patient’s scalp. A session of “Deep TMS” or “dTMS” the name given to TMS treatment using the H-coil is typically 20 minutes, which is about half the duration of a typical Neurostar (figure-8 coil) TMS session. Brainsway Deep TMS is considered the most advanced TMS system currently available.
Magnetic impulses from NeuroStar TMS do not descend deeper than 0.6 inch under the scull, and, therefore, have more superficial or “focal” impact.
In contrast, Brainsway’s Deep TMS device has an H-shaped coil, which produces magnetic waves reaching the deep brain structures at up to 1.6 inch below the skull surface and allows greater impulse distribution. That is almost three times deeper.
NeuroStar Surface TMS patients are four times more likely to benefit from treatment compared to patients receiving placebo. After four weeks of procedures, 9% of patients achieve remission with NeuroStar.
In contrast, effective in even the most severe cases of depression, Brainsway Deep TMS has been shown to induce remission in as much as 32% of patients after four weeks of treatment.
What’s more, studies show that the concurrent use of antidepressant pharmacotherapy with deep TMS may produce even greater results – 58% remission rate and 79% response rate.
Dr. Prashad was the first provider in Houston to acquire and use of Deep TMS
Dr. Prashad offers complete evaluations for patients who have complex and difficult-to-treat depression. Our team will provide you with an in-depth psychiatric consultation
