Medical Design Briefs - November 2024 - 50

Head-Mounted Device Offers Hope for Treating Depression
Nagoya University
Nagoya, Japan
A
head-mounted device that generates
an ultra-low frequency ultralow magnetic
field has been found to improve
the symptoms of four male patients diagnosed
with major depressive disorder.
Future trials using the device may offer a
safe and noninvasive way of treating depression.
The results were published in
the Asian Journal of Psychiatry.
The presence of a magnetic field with
frequencies typically ranging from 0 to
300 Hz is known as an extremely low drequency
magnetic environment (ELF-ELME).
Although the interaction between magnetic
fields and biological systems is complex
and not well understood, this
frequency is believed to stimulate mito -
chondria and induce their renewal. Since
mitochondria generate energy, they offer
a potential way to treat many of the symptoms
associated with depression such as
lethargy.
For this study, the research team led
by Prof. Toshiya Inada at Nagoya University
Graduate School of Medicine
and Masako Tachibana of Nagoya University
Hospital in Japan enrolled four
male Japanese participants diagnosed
with depression and receiving treatment
between the ages of 18 and 75
years in a clinical trial known as an exploratory
first-in human study.
In exploratory studies such as this,
both participants and researchers are
aware of the treatment being administered.
Although the sample size is small
and there is no control group, researchers
can focus on gathering preliminary
data to explore the safety, dosage, and
potential efficacy of a new intervention.
Throughout the trial, participants wore
a head-mounted magnetic field device that
exposed them to ELF-ELME for two hours
per day for eight weeks. As predicted, the
researchers found that all patients reported
a drop in their level of depression.
Although the experiment was an exploratory
trial with a limited number of
participants and no control group, the
findings suggest that larger scale clinical
trials are feasible. If such trials prove to
be effective, their research could lead to
a groundbreaking change in the current
clinical practice of depression treatment.
Inada believes that the device has great
potential to treat depression more effectively
in a patient-centered way. " The
magnetic field generated by the device is
non-invasive, being 1/4.5 of the Japanese
geomagnetic field and less than 1/60 of
the International Commission on
Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection's general
public exposure standard, " he says.
" We anticipate that patients will be able to
receive daily home treatment without
even being aware of being in a low magnetic
field environment. "
" Compared to current depression
treatments, such as long-term antidepressant
medications, electroconvulsive
therapy, and repetitive transcranial
magnetic stimulation, this therapy is
superior in terms of convenience and
lack of anticipated side effects, " says Inada.
" We could see our device being
used for patients who prefer not to
take medication or safely in combination
with other treatments. "
The study, " Extremely Low Frequency,
Extremely Low Magnetic Environment
for Depression: An Open-Label Trial, "
was published in Asian Journal of Psychiatry
at DOI: 10.1016/j.ajp.2024.104036.
The authors are Masako Tachibana,
Toshiya Inada, Hiroki Kimura, Mikako
Ito, Yachiyo Kuwatsuka, Fumie Kinoshita,
Daisuke Mori, and Kinji Ohno.
For more information, e-mail icomm_
research@t.mail.nagoya-u.ac.jp or visit
www.nagoya-u.ac.jp.
A head-mounted device generates an ultra-low frequency ultralow magnetic field, known as an
extremely low frequency magnetic environment (ELF-ELME). (Credit: Mikako Ito, Keiko Itano)
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