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Regional Mental Hospital at Yerawada gets rTMS machine
RMH in Pune installs rTMS therapy machine for prompt treatment of mental illnesses like depression and OCD. Patients can now receive innovative therapy with magnetic pulses targeting specific brain areas.
PUNE Patients at Regional Mental Hospital (RMH) in Yerawada suffering from illnesses such as depression and Obsessive- Compulsive Disorder (OCD) will soon receive prompt treatment through Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) therapy.
The machine costs around ₹ 71 lakhs and is under installation process.
The hospital received the rTMS machine from the funds of the district planning committee.
The rTMS provides innovative therapy that involves using magnetic pulses to target specific areas of the brain, eliminating the need for electric shock therapy.
Dr Sandeep Mahamuni, psychologist at RMH, said, the rTMS is a technique for gently modulating the brain cells.
“It utilises a specialised electromagnet that generates brief magnetic pulses, roughly up to the strength of an MRI scanner magnetic field, but much more focused. The therapy can be used for patients suffering from chronic mental depression, Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders,” he said.
The RMH currently has 955 patients admitted at the hospital which includes 614 male and 341 female patients.
The hospital along with rTMS has also received two advanced electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) machines.
Dr Sunil Patil, medical superintendent, RMH, said that currently there is only one ECT machine that has to be shifted from the female ward to the male ward for therapy sessions. After receiving two advanced ECT machines, now both wards will have one machine.
“The ECT machine is advanced and monitors both the brain and heart functions during the therapy,” he said.
Patil, further informed that rTMS will be used in patients who have not responded to the first line of treatment and therapies.
“It is suggested to patients who are not healthy enough for procedures like ECT. The patients are given anaesthesia for ECT and not suggested for patients with a history of seizures. The rTMS can be given to patients even on an OPD basis and patients can be discharged within half an hour. Each session takes approximately 20 minutes, and patients typically require 10 to 20 such sessions,” he said.
