Wearable headset treats depression

A health tech startup is using a wearable headset and app to treat depression with brain stimulation.

Sweden-based health tech company Flow Neuroscience is developing an alternative treatment for depression. The new device Flow is a medical grade headset for brain stimulation. It combines psychology, technology and neuroscience. The headset sends out gentle electric pulses through a patient’s brain, targeting the part of the brain affected by depression. This technique – Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) – aims to encourage the brain to change in specific areas over time.

The treatment plan that Flow Neuroscience instructs users to follow is to wear the headset for 25 minutes per day for 10 days. While doing so, users should use Flow Neuroscience’s accompanying app which has activities designed to help change the negative behavioural patterns that are a symptom of depression. After the initial 10 days, users should reduce their headset use to twice per week for about a month.

Many of the innovations we have featured here at Springwise focus on monitoring and improving mental health. One example is an app designed for company employees to track their mental health and learn how to de-stress. Another example is a wearable that tracks jaw movement to monitor eating habits and social engagement in order to assess the user’s mental health.