The sheer magnitude of the problem is staggering. Depression is on pace to be the world's second-most disabling disease by the year 2020. In the United States, depression afflicts 18 million people at any given time, one in five over the course of a lifetime, and costs over $40 billion a year in lost work and health care.

While many are successfully treated using pharmacotherapy, treatment resistant depression remains a real problem. Many individuals can't tolerate drug therapy, and the stigma of ECT (remember Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?) means that it's often the treatment of last resort.

So what hope is there for depression sufferers when conventional treatments fail? One treatment rapidly gaining acceptance is repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). Recognizing its efficacy, a practicing psychiatrist approached Trendlines for assistance in developing business models necessary to bring his patent pending rTMS system to patients and to the financial community.

With market research completed and the company's business plan formulated, Trendlines' staff traveled with Company management to deliver presentations to various government bodies. Trendlines also worked with the new company to engage a CEO and played a key role in negotiations with strategic partners and suppliers.

About rTMS
Recent clinical trials have demonstrated that repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation is an effective modality in the treatment of mood disorders. Transcranial magnetic stimulation uses a powerful, pulsating magnetic field to stimulate the brain. This stimulation alters the excitability of nerve cells and "resets" the rate at which the brain releases the various chemicals implicated in depression. Patients are able to resume a full spectrum of activities, without restrictions, immediately following an rTMS treatment.