Accelerated TMS

Treat Depression in as Little as 3-5 Days

Discover a Brighter Tomorrow with Accelerated TMS Therapy in Cambridge, MA

The FDA has approved a six-week TMS protocol for treating depression. However, published clinical research has shown that accelerated theta-burst stimulation protocols can produce remission in a meaningful percentage of patients with treatment-resistant depression. Individual results vary. If you are interested in learning whether Accelerated TMS may be an appropriate option for you, contact us today.

Our Approach to Accelerated TMS

Cambridge Biotherapies™ uses Accelerated TMS, a new and effective treatment for depression. Our approach is different from the original studies because we use direct brain mapping to find the treatment location, rather than MRI and computer modeling.

Accelerated TMS targets the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (LDLPFC), an area of the brain that is relatively underactive in patients with depression. When we re-activate this region using TMS, the symptoms of depression often remit.

Direct brain mapping is an office-based method that is more effective and efficient than MRI and computer modeling. It allows us to find the LDLPFC with greater accuracy, which results in better treatment outcomes.

We have been treating patients using Accelerated TMS, and our experience has made us optimistic that this new treatment approach represents a paradigm shift in TMS therapy. If you are suffering from depression, we encourage you to contact us to learn more about Accelerated TMS.

The motor cortex is the part of the brain that controls all voluntary movement. To locate the motor cortex for TMS treatment, the clinician first places a paddle (referred to as a “coil”) that delivers single pulses of magnetic energy over the area of the patient’s head that roughly corresponds to the motor cortex. By delivering individual pulses, the clinician isolates the location within the motor cortex that most reliably elicits activity from the contralateral (opposite) thumb. The treatment area is then marked 5.5 cm anterior to this spot. This method of locating the motor cortex is called the 5.5 cm rule. It is a simple and effective way to ensure that the TMS treatment is delivered to the correct area of the brain.
The F3 method is a way to locate the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (LDLPFC), an area of the brain that is often targeted for treatment of depression. The F3 method builds off the 10-20 system, which is a system for locating sites for the placement of EEG (electroencephalography) leads. In the 10-20 system, the location referred to as F3 correlates to the LDLPFC. The F3 method takes three measurements of the patient’s head: the nasion-inion distance, the ear-to-ear distance, and the biparietal width. These measurements are then used by a computer program to calculate the corresponding measurements that allow the clinician to locate F3.

Putting it All Together

Published accelerated TMS research used MRI and computer modeling to locate treatment areas. On average, these areas were approximately 1 cm lateral to the F3 location. By finding the spot 1 cm lateral to F3 and using a coil that stimulates a large enough area, we can target the same brain region identified in the clinical studies using MRI and computer modeling.

Given that (1) our targeting method closely mirrors the methods used in published clinical research, and (2) Accelerated TMS delivers intensive theta-burst stimulation over a compressed treatment timeline, we have found that our Accelerated TMS protocol can offer results consistent with those seen in published research. To date, our clinical experience supports this assertion. If you’re interested in learning more about accelerated TMS therapy in Cambridge, MA, contact us today and we will be glad to answer any questions you may have and schedule your initial consultation.