‘First of its kind:’ Non-invasive brain stimulation therapy will help Montana veterans

Mimi Timeus’s right thumb twitched as an electromagnetic pulse was sent through her skull and into her brain. A magnetic coil held against her scalp targeted the precise region in her brain to stimulate the tiny movement in her finger.

Timeus is a nurse for a very specific type of therapy called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS). The brain stimulation technique uses magnetic pulses to activate nerve cells in the region of the brain involved in controlling mood and changes the way the cells communicate with one another, said Dr. Michelle Madore, the program director for the Veterans Affairs TMS program.

The therapy, used to treat medication resistant major depressive disorder, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2008, but 15 years later TMS is still a lesser utilized treatment for mood disorders.

Dr. Emily K McMillan shows how providers aim equipment for transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS, with TMS nurse Mimi Timeus’s help at the unveiling of Montana’s first mobile TMS truck on July 21.

CHRISTINE COMPTON

Now, the magnetic device is set up in an air conditioned, mobile van,

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