By Kevin Blocker for the Spokane Journal of Business
Operators of a startup company here that uses technology to treat depression plan to open more clinics in Spokane—and in other parts of the country where what’s known as transcranial magnetic stimulation is seldom used.
The young company, TMS Solutions, uses short, magnetic pulses to stimulate nerve cells in the area of the brain believed to control mood.
“It’s amazing technology that has a clinical success rate of 80 percent,” claims Christopher Blackburn, the CEO and co-founder of Colorado Neuro Health & Wellness LLC, which does business here as TMS Solutions.
TMS Solutions began operating here in October and moved in February to a medical office building owned by Orthopedic Specialty Institute LLC at 26 E. Fifth, on the periphery of downtown Spokane.
Blackburn, a Gonzaga University graduate, recently hired fellow GU alum and longtime friend Tim Denniston to be the company’s chief operations officer. The company disclosed plans earlier this year to move its corporate headquarters to Spokane.
The transcranial magnetic stimulation procedure was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration roughly a decade ago for patients who often suffer from major depressive disorder and who haven’t benefitted from prior antidepressant medication, Blackburn says.
During such a procedure, a certified technician uses a handheld, curved device containing magnetic coils to stimulate specific areas of a patient’s brain by resting the device on his or her head. During the procedure, a patient is reclined in a chair without sedation.
The full treatment of transcranial magnetic stimulation through TMS Solutions involves a 40-minute outpatient procedure five days a week for a total of six consecutive weeks, and the company now has eight active patients, enough to use fully a single chair, Denniston says. The company has a second chair on order to handle additional patient demand.
