An FDA panel is reviewing a machine that can send magnetic waves through the brain.

No pills are needed, but a chair is involved, although it looks like it belongs in a dentist’s office. The NeuroStar machine requires several 40-minute sessions over three to six weeks and is supposed to treat depression that can’t be resolved by therapy or antidepressants.

Given the ongoing controversy over the safety of antidepressants, it’s possible this approach may catch on pretty quickly. Stephen Brozak, analyst for WBB Securities, believes the NeuroStar has blockbuster potential as a billion dollar-a-year product.

The same panel is also reviewing post-marketing data for the VNS implantable device used to ward off the blues. The Cyberonics product has to be inserted in the chest or neck in order for the brain to receive any signals.

These things are certainly interesting, but it may be a little like starring in your own science fiction movie. Public Citizen goes a little further, though. In a press release issued midday, the consumer group claims the FDA is allowing the panel to review substandard clinical data.

This may be the sort of debate that keeps you glued to your chair, a regular chair, that is.

[tags]Cyberonics, Depression, FDA, Neuronetics[/tags]