Over 100 clinicians and industry partners from across the world gathered at Butler Hospital, Sep. 26-28, to learn how to use transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) – a noninvasive form of brain stimulation for the treatment of depression, OCD, and other disorders – in a training directed by Prof. Linda Carpenter, M.D.
Carpenter led the certification course, called PULSES, on behalf of the Clinical TMS Society, an international medical organization that works to advance the use of TMS in clinical care. The Society holds PULSES courses at locations around the globe.
“One of the reasons we were able to host the meeting here is because we have a world-class TMS Clinic and Neuromodulation Research Facility at Butler Hospital comprised of large spaces containing numerous different types of TMS devices that can be used for hands-on training,” Carpenter said. “Additionally, Brown University and Butler faculty have an international reputation for advancing the field of therapeutic neurostimulation treatments and have been among the ‘firsts’ to conduct clinical trials research with new psychiatric treatments such as deep brain stimulation, vagus nerve stimulation, and transcranial magnetic stimulation.”
The three-day training program featured lectures from expert TMS researchers and clinicians, including biomedical engineer Anthony Barker Ph.D., who invented the first TMS device in 1985. The course also provided hands-on training in the Butler Hospital TMS Clinic, which Carpenter directs.
Several faculty, trainees, and alumni from Brown Psychiatry and Human Behavior attended the training.
“The PULSES program registration was closed early after the maximum number of clinicians had signed up, reflecting their attraction to this setting for their learning experience, and also reflecting the growing international interest in clinical TMS therapies as the technology evolves and there are more therapeutic indications supported by the rapidly growing database,” Carpenter said.
She added that there are plans to host the training in Providence again next fall.
