Transcranial magnetic stimulation r-TMS Pune

One very promising avenue for influencing the living brain has emerged in the last decade, based on the use of pulsed magnetic fields. Machines are now available which can give up to 100 stimuli per second (rapid-rate TMS, or rTMS) and their effects are more interesting. Among a wide range of possibilities, it is proved that rTMS may have a place in the treatment of mental illnesses. It is a non-invasive technique, without help of medication, apparently free of serious side-effects, capable of modifying the activity of specific brain areas and treatment of psychiatric problems like Depression, OCD, Schizophrenia and other neurological illness.
Approved for clinical use by the United States Federal Drug Administration (FDA) in October 2008, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is a noninvasive treatment that uses a magnetic field to induce a weak current in the part of the brain responsible for depression.

"TMS is an exciting development in the treatment of depression symptoms," says Dr. Richard Bermudes, founder of Sacramento TMS center USA. "It's really life changing, especially for patients who haven't been helped by traditional antidepressant medications, which is typically about 50 percent of those we see, and patients with OCD and hallucinations." our patients already have seen dramatic improvement with just a few treatments," says Bermudes

How it works
The magnetic fields used in TMS are produced by passing magnetic waves through a hand-held coil, the coil is held on the scalp - no actual contact is necessary - and the magnetic field passes through the skull and into the brain. Small induced currents can then make brain areas below the coil more or less active, depending on the settings used.
In practice, TMS and rTMS are able to influence many brain functions, including movement, visual perception, memory, reaction time, speech and mood.
Safety issues
Generally, TMS appears to be free from harmful effects. Research continues, but TMS is certainly free of obvious side-effects like those of electro-convulsive therapy (ECT), which still makes quite an impact on patients despite refinements in technique.
TMS / rTMS in the treatment of mental illness
Many mental illnesses can be demonstrated to stem from the abnormal behaviour of particular brain regions, in much the same way that diabetes is the result of malfunctioning cells in the pancreas. It is believed that some mental disorders are the result of nerve cells being over- or under-excitable (in other words, it is too easy or too difficult for them to "fire" and work properly). In this context, successful psychiatric treatment is achieved by modifying these cells' behaviour. The range of effects produced by TMS are a clear indication of its potential to work in this way.
Of course, TMS could only be used to treat diseases whose functional causes are understood. Recent progress in understanding the mechanisms behind depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, psychosis and neurological diseases like Parkinson's and Huntington's, offers some hope in these areas. The prospect of replacing ECT with a near-painless treatment, which does not require anaesthesia, would change these people's lives remarkably.
rTMS available at Joshi Hospital, Deccan, Pune.
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