A New Headset to Help With Depression Is Now Available in the US
A New Headset to Help With Depression Is Now Available in the US. Skip to main contentSave this storySave this storyAn at-home wearable for the treatment of depression is now available by prescription in the US.
What happened
The device made by Flow Neuroscience is approved by the FDA and could help people get off antidepressants—but it costs $2,200. But at the current four-figure price tag, it might take a while for the futuristic-looking headset to catch on with patients. People with depression tend to have lower activity and weaker neural connections in that part of the brain. A headband by Muse promises to improve meditation, and a device by Elemind is meant to help people fall asleep faster.
The Flow device targets the same part of the brain as transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS, an approved treatment for depression that uses magnetic fields to activate neurons. The UK’s National Health Service is also piloting the headset. Vinod Khosla, a billionaire venture capitalist and an early investor in Flow, thinks a nonchemical approach to treating depression is the way of the future.
The wider picture
“My bet is, if you ask any person who's on depression drugs, they'd prefer not to be on them,” he says. Emily MullinSmart Toilets Are Already Using AI to Analyze Your PoopWhile companies promise they can help users monitor gut health, experts suggest that smart toilets provide little in the way of benefits to the average person. With roughly one in six American adults taking an antidepressant medication, Swedish firm Flow Neuroscience is positioning its device as an alternative to traditional drugs.
Worn on the forehead for 30 minutes a day and operated with an app, the device provides low-intensity electrical stimulation to the left frontal lobe of the brain, an area involved in regulating mood and emotions. Flow received approval from the Food and Drug Administration last December, and its device is among a new breed of wearables that monitor, record from, or stimulate the brain. California-based Cognixion, for instance, has modified the Apple Vision Pro to build a communication system for paralyzed people that doesn’t depend on speech or motor control.
With TMS, patients have to go to a clinic, and a full dosing series typically requires treatment sessions administered five days a week over several weeks. The whole course of treatment can cost up to $15,000 without insurance.
What has been reported
Flow CEO Daniel Månsson, a clinical psychologist before he cofounded the company, says he set out to make a more convenient option for patients. “In order to have a real impact on the problem, you need to create something that has the effect on the brain needed, but that can be used in a home environment in a safe and effective way,” he says. Photograph: Courtesy of Flow NeuroscienceIn a trial of 174 people with major depressive disorder, 45 percent of participants who received Flow’s device experienced a remission in symptoms at 10 weeks compared to 22 percent of those in a control group who received a sham version.
The trial included people who were taking antidepressants and those who weren’t—evidence that the device can, under medical supervision, be used in addition to medication, Månsson says. Reported side effects were mild: Some people experienced skin irritation, headaches, and trouble concentrating. Antidepressants, meanwhile, can cause nausea, weight gain, drowsiness, dry mouth, and sexual problems, but these can go away a few weeks after beginning medication. In Europe, where the device has been approved since 2019, more than 65,000 people have used the Flow device, says Månsson.
In the US, patients will be able to get a prescription for the Flow device from a clinician in person or via telehealth.
What happens next
But at least for now, they’ll have to pay out of pocket to use it: $2,200 for 10 weeks and then $325 per month after. That’s a lot more than standard antidepressants, which are usually covered by insurance. Månsson says the company is working to get reimbursement from insurers. “They'd like a nondrug, nonchemical treatment for it. ”CommentsBack to topJoin the discussionCommentsBack to topYou Might Also LikeIn your inbox: WIRED's most ambitious, future-defining storiesAI slop backlash is actually having an impactBig Story: The cop who took on FlockThe rise of the 1am job interviewWatch: I stole a car by hacking this hidden deviceEmily Mullin is a staff writer at WIRED, covering biotechnology.
Previously, she was an MIT Knight Science Journalism project fellow and a staff writer covering biotechnology at Medium's OneZero. Before that, she served as an associate editor at MIT Technology Review, where she wrote about biomedicine. Gabriela GalvinThe Best Sleep Trackers for Smarter Rest and RecoveryI tested the top sleep wearables for every type of sleeper, including devices from Oura, Google Fitbit, and Eight Sleep.