NCT05902312

Repetitive Versus Deep Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Major Depression

Comparative Effectiveness of Repetitive Versus Deep Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Major Depression: A Randomized Controlled Trial

• Status: Active Not Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 50 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM) · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 21 Years – 70 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The goal of this randomized controlled trial is to he effectiveness of two different TMS techniques in TRD, repetitive TMS (rTMS) and deep TMS (dTMS). The main questions it aims to answer are: type of study: clinical trial participant population/health conditions : Major Depressive Disorder To assess the superiority of dTMS over rTMS in TRD To evaluate the predictive capacity of scalable candidate biomarkers Participants will be randomly allocated to one of the two intervention groups (rTMS or dTMS).

Detailed description

The primary aim of this trial is to compare the effectiveness of two different TMS techniques in TRD, repetitive TMS (rTMS) and deep TMS (dTMS). Compared to rTMS, dTMS delivers a broader magnetic field, which in turn reduces coil positioning error and maximizes the probability of optimal cortical stimulation. A past RCT comparing both approaches found a greater depression score decrease and response/remission rates for dTMS, but was short of reaching significance for remission rates (primary outcome). Critical components of this RCT were suboptimal, including too few treatment sessions and insufficient statistical power, both of which could have obscured an actual difference between modalities. Proof of a more effective type of TMS over another would translate into increased odds of improvement for TRD patients who live with a chronic and disabling illness.

Conditions

• Major Depressive Disorder

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DEVICE	transcranial magnetic stimulation	Participants will receive either rTMS or dTMS

Timeline

• Start date: 2024-01-01
• Primary completion: 2026-01-01
• Completion: 2026-01-01
• First posted: 2023-06-13
• Last updated: 2025-07-17

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Canada