Magnet device aims to treat depression patients

October 20th, 2008 in Medicine & Health / Health

(AP) -- The government has approved the first noninvasive brain stimulator to treat depression - a device that beams magnetic pulses through the skull. If it sounds like science-fiction, well, those woodpecker-like pulses trigger small electrical charges that spark brain cells to fire. Yet it doesn't cause the risks of surgically implanted electrodes or the treatment of last resort, shock therapy.

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