The History of TMS Therapy
For the past years, TMS or transcranial magnetic stimulation therapy has become popular especially among those who weren’t successful in traditional treatment methods for depression and anxiety disorders.
But did you know that the concept of TMS started over 100 years ago?
The History of TMS
In1880s, the physics behind TMS was discovered by a man named Michael Faraday.
Faraday created a magnetic field by running electricity through a coil and found out that it can also affect conductors within close proximity, such as another coil or neurons in the brain. However, it was only in mid-1900s when researchers started looking into the effect of repetitive TMS (rTMS) for treating patients with depression.
After over a decade of studies and long review, the first device for rTMS was approved by FDA.
At the same time, a new device that can affect deeper structures of the brain is under study (deep TMS or dTMS).
It took years for the dTMS device to be approved by FDA (a study was presented in 2009 but the first dTMS device was released in 2013).
With positive results from previous studies, more clinics are now adapting to the use of TMS for depression and other mental health disorders.
TMS Over Traditional Treatment Methods
A lot of people prefer TMS over medications or ECT because it doesn’t have systemic effects like nausea, weight gain, and sexual dysfunction. And unlike ECT, it doesn’t lead to any cognitive impairments.
If you want to know more how TMS can benefit you, feel free to contact us and talk with one of our providers.