FDA Clears Brain-Guided Magnetic Therapy for PTSD; Company Cites 68% Remission

The US Food and Drug Administration has cleared a new, personalized treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): Magnetic e-Resonance Therapy (MeRT), developed by California-based Wave Neuroscience together with researchers at the Texas A&M Health Institute of Biosciences and Technology. According to Wave Neuroscience, trial patients had a 52% reduction in PTSD symptoms and 68% achieved remission. The full findings are still being prepared for public release, so these numbers come from the company and are preliminary.

How the treatment works

MeRT combines measurements of brain activity with targeted magnetic stimulation. An electroencephalogram (EEG) first records the brain's electrical signals. That information guides a personalized plan using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), in which a coil placed against the scalp delivers magnetic pulses. TMS was already cleared for treatment-resistant depression. What distinguishes MeRT is an AI-assisted algorithm that customizes stimulation to each patient's brain activity instead of using a standard protocol.

In the trial, participants received five sessions a week for five to six weeks. Researchers reported that improvements appeared to persist after the sessions ended. The source does not describe how many patients took part or whether there was a control group.

What it is compared with

PTSD treatment has largely centered on psychotherapy and SSRI medications such as sertraline and fluoxetine, and many patients keep their symptoms. A 2020 review of PTSD medications found improvements of 6.8 to 10.1 points on symptom scales and remission rates of at most 10.9%. The company's chief medical officer, Erik Won, called the trial results "more than a four-fold increase in efficacy". The source notes that the numbers come from different studies and should not be read as a direct comparison.

Israel Liberzon, the study's lead psychiatrist at Texas A&M, said MeRT will become the only FDA-cleared non-medication treatment specifically for PTSD once it reaches patients, alongside the two SSRI medications the FDA has approved for the disorder. MeRT received an FDA Breakthrough Device designation in 2024, and the company says clearance could open access for about 13 million people with PTSD.

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