The First TMS device

Published on May 5, 2021 by Kimya Pearl Jalinous

While the roots of Jali Medical’s values originate from the commitment to foster discovery through non-invasive brain stimulation, the initiation of the first transcranial magnetic stimulation device strived to accomplish the same milestones in clinical research, diagnosis, and therapy and establish a precedent of uncovering solutions that lives in scientists and clients alike today. .

A TMS device stimulates nerves within the brain by utilising magnetic fields for the purpose of mitigating symptoms of major depression. Although initial TMS research commenced in the 1880s, the first recognized device was created a century later in 1985; Reza Jalinous, Anthony Barker, and Ian Freeston carried out cooperative research and shaped the trajectory of non-invasive device creation in the modern day by putting a Faraday coil directly above the left cerebral motor strip on the scalp. The coil would produce an electromagnetic inductive voltage in which magnetic field currents flow through brain cells. They were able to demonstrate motor movement in the test subject’s right hand through direct manipulation by electromagnetic pulses, and this breakthrough was officially published in 1988 in The Lancet for the world to view. This newfound phenomenon of a physical response through electromagnetic nerve stimulation paved opportunities in the brain research community in the last 35 years

What encapsulates these values of societal progression exemplified by the TMS device are the individuals behind its invention: medical physics PhD student Reza Jalinous, Professor Ian Freeston, and Professor Anthony Barker of the University of Sheffield. In 1982, three years prior to the TMS device creation, both Ian Freeston and Anthony Barker, along with Mike Polson, formed a research team and constructed a magnetic stimulator to stimulate nerves outside of the central nervous system non-invasively; this created the preliminary research setting for non-invasive stimulation that is the foundation for neurostimulation technology decades later. This technology was then licensed to Novametrix, Inc. in Wallingford, CT, where Reza Jalinous developed the Magstim Model 200, a device marking another widely-recognized step forward towards modern neurostimulation technology. Reza Jalinous co-founded the Magstim Company, a producer of magnetic stimulation devices distributed throughout the US and Wales for depression research and treatment, with Roy Hovey and Robin Lewis in 1990; Magstim Co. was sold in 2015, and Reza Jalinous established Jalton LLC, a company that supplies custom-design coils and accessories to manufacturers currently. Professor Anthony Barker, now retired as a honorary Professor Associate of the University of Sheffield and a Fellow of the Institutions of Engineering and Technology & Physics and Engineering in Medicine, was working within the UK National Health Service and received the inaugural International Brain Award in 2017 for his contributions in TMS creation.