Through a referral from a treating physician – a psychiatrist or neurologist, it is now possible to treat clinical depression with health insurance funding, or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) with private funding, in the brain stimulation unit at Herzog Medical Center.
The treatment is provided using a unique helmet, which stimulates certain areas of the brain using electromagnetic stimulation.
“The special helmet, called Deep TMS, is the product of development by the Israeli medical device company Brainsway, which has already
received four FDA approvals in the US and over ten European CE approvals,” Herzog notes. “Recently, the helmet was also included in the Israeli drug basket for cases of major depression.”

“According to the Ministry of Health’s guidelines,” Herzog further notes, “patients over the age of 22, who suffer from major depression, and have experienced failure in two other treatment options, will be eligible to receive a series of up to 40 helmet treatments.”
According to psychiatrist Prof. Pinchas Danon, director of the Mental Health Division at Herzog: “The quality of life with severe clinical depression and/or obsessive-compulsive disorders is extremely poor. Until recently, the response to patients included only drug treatment or psychological measures. These are methods with limited effectiveness. In contrast, the possibility of treating neurological and mental difficulties with non-invasive methods is the future. Herzog Medical Center is not only the oldest and first hospital in the country, but also a pioneer and leader in the fields of mental health for decades; a knowledge and research base in terms of academia and psychiatric medicine.

Adds Dr. Oded Mayron, Director of the Brain Stimulation Center at Herzog Medical Center, a psychologist specializing in neuroscience
and cognition: “In recent years, Herzog Medical Center has been implementing non-invasive brain stimulation treatments. We treat a
wide range of neurological, psychiatric syndromes and developmental and rehabilitation difficulties: from migraines and chronic pain, through schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, functional decline following brain events, cognitive impairments (related to brain injury or developmental disorder, such as autism) and more. We have gained extensive experience in treatment using weak electrical current, a type of non-invasive targeted brain stimulation (tDCS) and brain stimulation using Deep TMS. The duration of the treatments is between half an hour and 45 minutes a day (at least 10 to 20 sessions every two weeks), and they do not involve hospitalization. They are highly effective and have no significant side effects.”

He said: “Patients suffering from major depression, who meet the clinical conditions, and receive a referral from a treating physician for deep magnetic stimulation treatment, will undergo an initial adjustment for treatments using Deep TMS at our clinic. This involves about
twenty treatments for severe depression at no cost – against Form 17 from the Health Insurance Fund. Duration of each treatment: 20
minutes. Magnetic stimulation treatment includes a change in an electromagnetic field focused on the brain, in order to stimulate, or
inhibit, specific brain networks involved in the disorder, or those specifically related to resistant major depression.”

Dr. Mayron adds: “Treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) will be provided privately, since it has not yet been included in
the drug basket. At the clinic, we also offer privately funded treatments for addictive disorders and various psychiatric disorders, which match the medical indicators for tDCS and Deep TMS brain stimulation treatments.”