Implants for Depression

Depression is a serious condition that affects not only the mind, but the body as well. It can interfere with the body's ability to carry out normal everyday functions like eating, sleeping and thinking. According to Novant Health, about 19 million Americans suffer from clinical depression in any given year. Many with depression don't respond to traditional treatments. Fortunately, medical technology has made several breakthroughs in implant therapy that can help these patients.

Intractable Depression

• Intractable depression is the most severe case of depression that can't be treated with conventional methods like anti-depressants, psychotherapy or electroshock therapy. According to the mental health website, Healthy Place, "an estimated 30 percent of depressed patients are treatment-resistant." In May 2003, six patients underwent a new surgical procedure where an implant was placed in the brain to improve the overall mood. Although two patients didn't improve, four showed dramatic improvement.

Deep Brain Stimulation

• According to Psych Central, the area of the brain believed to be related to depression is known as Brodmann Area 25. Deep Brain Stimulation involves the implantation of electrodes deep inside area 25, recalibrating the tissue in hopes of restoring the brain to function as normal. The electrodes remain in the brain, and the wires are threaded out of the skull and underneath the skin to the front of the chest in a small battery pack that controls the constant, but weak, stimulation. The amount of stimulation is customized to the patient and is based on severity of the condition and side effects of the treatment.

  Deep Brain Stimulation is still in its early stages of research. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration hasn't approved it as a treatment for depression, although it is approved for Parkinson's disease.

Vagus Nerve Stimulation

• Vagus Nerve Simulation (VNS) is an implant to treat chronic, severe depression. Initially a treatment for epileptic patients, VNS was found to alter the moods of patients with depression.

  In 2005, the FDA approved VNS for the treatment of intractable depression in patients who have suffered from the condition for more than two years. Implanted in the chest, wires from a pulse generator are threaded beneath the skin to the left vagus nerve in the neck. The device typically sends 30 seconds of electrical shocks to the brain every five minutes, which creates a reaction that can improve the overall mood of the patient.