A brain stimulation therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder that won FDA clearance earlier this year is drawing renewed attention after its developer reported a 68% remission rate in the clinical trial behind that clearance — a result the company says offers a drug-free option for a condition that has long resisted consistent treatment with medication and talk therapy alone.
The technology, called Magnetic e-Resonance Therapy, was developed by California-based Wave Neuroscience in collaboration with researchers at the Texas A&M Health Institute of Biosciences and Technology. It works by first recording a patient's brain activity with an electroencephalogram, then using that personalized map to guide transcranial magnetic stimulation — a technique in which a coil placed against the scalp delivers targeted magnetic pulses, already used clinically to treat depression that has not responded to other treatments.
A Sharp Contrast With Existing Options
PTSD has been a recognized psychiatric diagnosis since 1980, with treatment centered mainly on psychotherapy and SSRIs such as sertraline and fluoxetine. A 2020 review of PTSD medications found remission rates reaching only about 10.9% at best, with symptom improvements in a modest range on standard assessments. Wave Neuroscience's double-blind, sham-controlled trial, which supported the FDA clearance, reported a 52% reduction in symptoms, alongside the 68% remission figure. "In comparison to that study, our FDA trial reported a 52% reduction in symptoms, so more than a four-fold increase in efficacy," said Erik Won, the company's chief medical officer. "And more importantly, we saw 68% remission in our clinical trial. So it's really a quantum change, an inflection point in what we can offer to patients."
Researchers caution that the figures come from a different study design than the medication review and should not be read as a head-to-head comparison, and the full trial dataset has not yet appeared in a peer-reviewed publication for independent scrutiny — the detailed figures so far come from the company and its university research partners.
A Large Unmet Need
The stakes for better PTSD treatment are substantial. An estimated 6% of Americans will experience PTSD at some point in their lives, with higher rates among women and military veterans, among whom roughly 7% receive a PTSD diagnosis in a given year; veteran suicide remains a persistent crisis in the United States. The FDA clearance means the device can be marketed and used clinically, but questions remain about cost, insurance coverage and how the therapy performs outside a company-sponsored trial once wider, independently reviewed data becomes available.