TMS is the breakthrough technology for non-drug treatment of depression and promises to be the future of psychiatric treatment—providing hope for patients for whom medication treatment and psychotherapy have failed to achieve satisfactory results.
TMS Therapy is a treatment for those suffering from depression who have not achieved satisfactory improvement from prior antidepressant medications.
At TMS of Knoxville, we have successfully treated many patients with resistant depression, and some have been able to discontinue all antidepressants successfully.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) uses electronic magnetic induction to stimulate a part of the brain called the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. It’s a bit like wireless charging for your phone or electric toothbrush—no direct contact is needed.
Here’s how it works:
The Coil: A coil with copper wiring is placed over the front part of your head.
Magnetic Pulses: The coil sends out magnetic pulses at a high frequency (10 pulses per second).
Neurons and Synapses: These pulses create currents in the neurons (brain cells), strengthening the connections (synapses) between them.
Brain Networks: The magnetic pulses help balance different brain networks. One of these networks, the default mode network, is linked to negative thoughts and depression. TMS downregulates (reduces the activity of) this network and boosts another network called the salience network, which is positively affected by the treatment.
By doing this, TMS helps restore balance in the brain and alleviates depression.
Power: Most MRI scanners operate at 0.5 to 3.0 teslas. The TMS coil works at 1.5 teslas.
Cooling System: The coil is cooled by a special liquid that circulates through it, keeping it at the right temperature.
Since the 1980s, transcranial magnetic stimulation (or TMS) has been used to study the nerve fibers that carry information about movements from the brain to the spinal cord and on to the muscles. In the late 1980s, physicians began to explore the therapeutic potential of transcranial magnetic stimulation for the treatment of a variety of diseases, with depression being the most thoroughly studied to date. Since then, more than 20 randomized, controlled trials studying transcranial magnetic stimulation as a treatment for depression have been published by investigators throughout the world.
TMS of Knoxville is the first clinic to bring Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (or TMS) to Knoxville.
The cutting-edge MagVenture TMS system used at TMS of Knoxville is licensed only to psychiatrists with appropriate clinical training. The MagVenture, which is the newest generation of TMS technology (and FDA-cleared for treating major depression), is bringing hope to people across the world whose doctors have struggled to effectively bring them back to wellness.
TMS of Knoxville was the first to bring TMS to Knoxville in 2013 and the first MagVenture TMS device made in Denmark to the eastern half of the U.S.
TMS is the breakthrough technology for non-drug treatment of depression and promises to be the future of psychiatric treatment—providing hope for patients for whom medication treatment and psychotherapy have failed to achieve satisfactory results. At TMS of Knoxville, we have successfully treated many patients with treatment resistant depression
