Accelerated Deep TMS trial reports a drop in suicidal ideation

BrainsWay announced on 27 August 2026 that a secondary analysis of its multisite randomised trial has been published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, under the title “Effects of H-coil TMS on suicidality in major depression”. The parent trial was a non-inferiority comparison of SWIFT, an accelerated protocol that compresses a course of stimulation into days rather than weeks, against standard once-daily Deep TMS. That trial is what supported the FDA clearance of SWIFT in September 2025.

The reported result is a 70% reduction in the proportion of patients experiencing suicidal ideation. Suicidality was not the endpoint the trial was designed to answer, which is what “secondary analysis” means here: the signal is drawn from data collected to settle a different question, and it carries the weaker inference that comes with that.

BrainsWay states the limit itself. Deep TMS is cleared by the FDA for major depressive disorder; it is not cleared for the treatment or prevention of suicidal ideation or suicidal behaviour. Transcranial magnetic stimulation reaches the cortex through the skull with a magnetic field, so nothing is implanted — the H-coil is worn as a helmet for the length of a session.