TMS Therapy
What is TMS Therapy®
This two-minute video provides a demonstration of the Neurostar TMS Therapy® System.
TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) Therapy is a new treatment for patients suffering from depression who have not achieved satisfactory improvement from prior antidepressant medications. Using pulsed magnetic fields, TMS Therapy stimulates the part of the brain thought to be involved with mood regulation. TMS Therapy is a short outpatient procedure, performed in your psychiatrist’s office under their supervision while you remain awake and alert. The typical initial course of treatment is about 37 minutes daily over 4-6 weeks.
NeuroStar TMS Therapy® system, developed by Neuronetics, is the first and only non-systemic and non-invasive depression treatment cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for patients who have not benefited from prior antidepressant treatment.
NeuroStar TMS Therapy® is:
- Non-invasive, meaning that it does not involve surgery. It does not require any anesthesia or sedation, as the patient remains awake and alert during the treatment.
- Non-systemic, meaning that it is not taken by mouth and does not circulate in the bloodstream throughout the body.
How it Works
NeuroStar TMS Therapy® is a short outpatient procedure performed right in a psychiatrist’s office. The treating clinician uses a treatment coil to send pulsed magnetic fields, similar in type and strength to those produced by a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine, to the part of your brain thought to control mood.
TMS Therapy® is a highly targeted treatment reaching 2-3 centimeters into the brain, directly beneath the treatment coil. The nature of the magnetic fields allows them to pass through a patient’s hair, skin and skull and into the mood-regulating area without being distorted in any way. This method allows for a very accurate type of stimulation, minimizing the stimulation of brain tissue not involved in mood.
These magnetic pulses produce very small electrical currents. The amount of electricity created in the brain is very small and cannot be felt by a patient. These small electric currents can cause the neurons (brain cells) to fire or become active and lead to the release of neurotransmitters (the brain’s chemical messengers).
Effectiveness and Safety
An Effective Option for Treating Major Depressive Disorder
Clinical trials have proven the effectiveness of NeuroStar TMS Therapy® in treating patients who have not benefited from prior antidepressant medication.* NeuroStar TMS Therapy was studied in adult patients suffering from Major Depressive Disorder, all of whom had not received satisfactory improvement with previous therapies.
In a controlled clinical trial comparing active treatment with the NeuroStar TMS Therapy® system to an inactive device, patients treated with active NeuroStar TMS Therapy experienced a 22.1% average reduction of their depression symptoms, compared to a 9% average reduction of depression symptoms in patients receiving inactive treatment.
Patients treated with NeuroStar® also experienced significant improvement in anxiety and physical symptoms (such as appetite changes, aches and pains, and lack of energy) associated with depression.
In a study most like real world clinical practice where all patients received active treatment, approximately half of the patients treated with NeuroStar TMS Therapy experienced significant improvement in their depression symptoms. About a third of the patients treated with NeuroStar TMS Therapy experienced complete symptom relief at the end of six weeks.
Safe and Tolerable with Very Few Side Effects
Clinical trials have proven the safety of NeuroStar TMS Therapy® in treating patients who’ve had an inadequate response to prior antidepressant medications.
Treatment with NeuroStar TMS Therapy caused very few side effects and was generally well tolerated by patients. The most common side effect reported during clinical trials was scalp discomfort—generally mild to moderate and occurring less frequently after the first week of treatment.
Fewer than 5% of patients discontinued treatment with NeuroStar TMS Therapy due to adverse events.
Over 10,000 active treatments were performed across all NeuroStar® clinical trials demonstrating its safety.
- No seizures
- No systemic side effects
- No weight gain
- No sexual dysfunction
- No sedation
- No nausea
- No dry mouth
- No adverse effects on concentration or memory
- No device-drug interactions
Who Are Good Candidates for TMS Therapy
NeuroStar TMS Therapy is an appropriate treatment option for adult patients with Major Depressive Disorder who have failed to achieve satisfactory improvement from one prior antidepressant medication at or above the minimal effective dose and duration in the current episode.
Who Should NOT Receive TMS Therapy
NeuroStar TMS Therapy should not be used (is contraindicated) in patients with implanted metallic devices or non-removable metallic objects in or around the head. NeuroStar TMS Therapy should not be used in patients with implants controlled by physiological signals. This includes pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), and vagus nerve stimulators (VNS).
About Depression
Depression is a serious medical illness affecting more than 14 million American adults every year.
It results in a persistent state of sadness that may interfere with an individual’s thoughts, behavior, mood, and physical health. Symptoms can include:
- Lack of interest in or pleasure from activities typically enjoyed
- Difficulty thinking or concentrating
- Feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness, helplessness, or guilt
- Changes in sleep habits and energy levels
- Significant weight gain or weight loss
While the exact cause of depression is not known, the leading scientific theory is that depression is caused by an imbalance of the brain’s neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that send signals between brain cells. Depression is most often treated with antidepressant medications. It is believed that antidepressant medications work by increasing the levels of these neurotransmitters.
Although antidepressants can be effective for many patients, they do not work for everybody. Additionally, since antidepressant medications are typically taken by mouth, they circulate in the blood stream throughout the body, often resulting in unwanted side effects such as weight gain, sexual problems, upset stomach, sleepiness, and dry mouth.
More than 4 million patients do not receive adequate benefit from antidepressants and/or cannot tolerate the side effects caused by them, for these patients, there is a NEW WAY BACK.™
