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Updated: Aug 9, 2025
Treating Clinical Depression with Repetitive Deep Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Using the Brainsway H1-coil
Published on: October 4, 2016
Personalized Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Depression
Juha Gogulski1, Jessica M Ross2, Austin Talbot2
1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California; HUS Diagnostic Center, Clinical Neurophysiology, Clinical Neurosciences, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Personalized neuromodulation using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) can improve treatment for depression. Optimizing rTMS parameters based on individual brain differences offers a path to better clinical outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Medical Technology
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Personalized medicine is advancing across healthcare.
- Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a neuromodulatory technique used for neuropsychiatric disorders.
- Current rTMS application is often standardized, leading to suboptimal response rates (~50%) for conditions like treatment-resistant depression.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review and identify optimizable components of rTMS.
- To address interindividual variability in neural function and anatomy for improved rTMS efficacy.
- To enhance clinical outcomes for treatment-resistant depression and other neuropsychiatric disorders.
Main Methods:
- Review of current treatment options for treatment-resistant depression.
- Examination of neural mechanisms underlying rTMS.
- Discussion of targeting strategies, stimulation parameter selection, and adaptive closed-loop treatment approaches.
Main Results:
- rTMS is well-tolerated and effective for certain conditions.
- Significant variability exists in rTMS application parameters (location, angle, pattern, frequency, intensity).
- Standardized rTMS protocols may limit clinical effectiveness.
Conclusions:
- Optimizing rTMS based on individual patient variability is crucial.
- A deeper understanding of rTMS's adjustable parameters can significantly improve treatment outcomes.
- Personalized neuromodulation holds promise for enhancing neuropsychiatric treatments.
