What is TMS?
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive treatment that uses magnetic pulses to gently stimulate very specific parts of the brain. The magnetic pulses used in TMS, are like the magnetic energy used for an MRI, but TMS uses a fraction of the magnetic energy used by MRIs. In fact, some estimates suggest that a full course (4-6 weeks) of TMS treatment, uses less magnetic energy than a single MRI.
The reason why TMS uses so much less magnetic energy is based on two differences:
TMS is a localized treatment, which means it impacts a much smaller part of the body and it penetrates at a much lower depth than MRI
TMS uses pulsed magnetic fields (the magnetic field is turned on and off in rapid succession), while MRI uses a continuous magnetic field. TMS treatments typically involve several pulses delivered over a short period of time (3-19 minutes/per treatment session) Whereas, an MRI scan can take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour, depending on the type of scan.