Accelerated iTBS for Post Partum Depression

May 20, 2026 updated by: Kevin Caulfield, Medical University of South Carolina

An Open Label Study to Assess the Feasibility and Tolerability of Accelerated Theta Burst Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (iTBS-rTMS) for the Treatment of Post-Partum Depression

Study 1: The investigators are studying the feasibility and tolerability of 10x/day intermittent theta burst (excitatory) transcranial magnetic stimulation to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex over the course of 6 days for women with post-partum depression. The investigators further aim to characterize the anticipated anti-depressant effect of this treatment paradigm.

Study 2: The investigators are studying the feasibility and tolerability of 12 sessions/day of intermittent theta burse (excitatory) transcranial magnetic stimulation to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex over 5 days for women with post-partum depression. The investigators aim to compare the two different treatment schedules.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Study 1: This is an open-label study designed to investigate the feasibility and tolerability of a novel TMS treatment protocol to treat depression in women with post-partum depression. It is known that TMS can effectively treat depression. The FDA approved protocol lasts 6 weeks and is not feasible for many women with post-partum depression. The investigators are investigating a 6 day treatment for depression which may be more acceptable for this population. The investigators further aim to characterize the ant-depressant effect of this protocol in order to design a larger trial.

Study 2: In part 2 of this study, the treatment schedule is 12 sessions over 5 days that can be completed with 8. All other procedures, inclusion/exclusion criteria, and number of total pulses delivered is the same as study 1.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
40

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • South Carolina
      • Charleston, South Carolina, United States, 29425
        • Recruiting
        • Medical University of South Carolina
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 50 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Participants must be able to provide informed consent and function at an intellectual level sufficient to allow accurate completion of all assessment instruments.
  2. Participants must be over the age of 18.
  3. Participants must meet criteria for post-partum depression: a) onset of symptoms in the first year postpartum
  4. Participants must have a HRSD17 greater than or equal to 14 at baseline.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Participants must not be pregnant.
  2. Participants must not meet moderate or severe use disorder of any substance with the exception of Tobacco Use Disorder.
  3. Participants must not have current psychotic symptoms.
  4. Participants must not have a history of dementia or other cognitive impairment.
  5. Participants must not have active suicidal ideation requiring hospitalization or a suicide attempt within the past 3 months.
  6. Participants must not have any contraindications to receiving rTMS (e.g. metal implanted above the neck, history of seizure, any known brain lesion).
  7. Participants must not have any unstable general medical conditions.
  8. Participants must not have had eclampsia during pregnancy.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: iTBS
accelerated iTBS to Left DLPFC
Device: iTBS

The investigators will treat post-partum depressed subjects with accelerated intermittent theta burst stimulation. iTBS will be delivered via a MagVenture MagPro100 and Cool-B65 coil. The investigators will use a standard resting motor threshold (rMT) determination to determine the TMS dose. Treatment will be delivered at 120% of the motor threshold.

In study 1, the accelerated paradigm will consist of 10 such sessions separated by 15 minutes, for three treatment days per week. There will be 2 weeks of 10 sessions on each of three days for a total of six treatment days, divided by one treatment-free week between treatment weeks. In study 2, the accelerated paradigm will consist of 12 sessions per day for 5 total treatment days. Treatments will be delivered at the 10-20 EEG coordinate for F3 (approximating the left DLPFC), and will be found using the Beam-F3 method.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Determine feasibility and tolerability of accelerated iTBS for postpartum depression. The investigators hope to retain >80% of recruited patients (feasibility) and reach a full treatment dose of 120%rMT in >80% of enrolled women (tolerability).
Time Frame: 7 days
Determine feasibility and tolerability of accelerated iTBS for postpartum depression. The investigators hope to retain >80% of recruited patients (feasibility) and reach a full treatment dose of 120%rMT in >80% of enrolled women (tolerability).
7 days

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Anti-depressant effect
Time Frame: 4 weeks
Determine the preliminary anti-depressant effect size of a course of accelerated iTBS for women with postpartum depression. We hypothesize that at least 30% of post-partum depressed subjects receiving accelerated iTBS will achieve a response (50% reduction in symptoms as measured on Ham-D) at 4 weeks.
4 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Medical University of South Carolina

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
January 24, 2018

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
August 30, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
August 30, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
January 24, 2018

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
January 30, 2018

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
January 31, 2018

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
May 22, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
May 20, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • Pro00073886

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

Yes

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

Yes

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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