Patients under 18 years of age or older than 68 years of age. Patients with a history of substance abuse. Patients with a psychotic disorder, such as schizophrenic disorder, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar illness, or major depression with psychotic characteristics. As mentioned above, EMT therapy is highly effective and has been shown to be safe.
However, this does not mean that patients cannot experience any side effects of this treatment. The most common side effects that affect patients include mild headaches or tingling of the scalp or jaw. These effects disappear quickly and usually do not impair the patient's ability to carry out his daily tasks. The main absolute contraindication for EMT therapy is the presence of a mobile intracranial ferromagnetic (inside the head).
In other words, if someone has a brain stent, clip, or stimulator, that person should not receive EMT therapy. There are other relative contraindications for EMT that will require further evaluation with the physician prior to EMT therapy. The strong magnetic field pulse emitted by the TMS coil can induce large voltages in nearby wires and electronic devices. The wires that connect to the scalp electrodes should be kept free of loops and must be twisted to reduce magnetically induced voltages.
Active brain implants, such as deep brain stimulation (DBS) systems, epidural electrode arrays for cortical stimulation, and cochlear implants, contain intracranial electrodes connected to subcutaneous leads in the scalp. TMS can induce voltages in the electrode leads, whether the implant is ON or OFF, and this can result in involuntary stimulation of the brain. TMS pulses can also damage the internal circuits of electronic implants near the coil, causing them to malfunction.
