Status Update: Coronavirus situation and Home-based tDCS as a treatment alternative

24.03.2020

With the ongoing situation concerning the corona virus, we would like to give you an update on how this affects our way of working at Sooma and our availability for you. We also want to extend a suggestion especially for those of you who are currently treating patients with ECT, rTMS or psychotherapy.

Sooma status

Sooma will continue working as normal, with the exception of in-person meetings. These will be done remotely via video in order to limit in-person contact and minimise any risks related to the virus. The Sooma team will be available to assist you remotely with any problem or question you might have. For quick advice and support, email support@soomamedical.com or call 010 328 9811.

Home-based tDCS for ECT, rTMS and psychotherapy patients

The unusual situation caused by the coronavirus has led to a great deal of uncertainty regarding the treatment of patients. For those of you who are currently treating patients with ECT, rTMS or psychotherapy, and expect the coronavirus situation might impact the accessibility of these treatments for your patients, we suggest considering transferring these patients to home-based treatment with tDCS during the crisis.

Treatments that can be done at home:

  • Almost all tDCS treatments
  • rTMS and ECT maintenance patients can be supported with home-based tDCS
  • If the situation and health care resources deteriorate significantly, home-based tDCS can support:
    • a break from psychotherapy
    • interruption of rTMS and ECT treatments

Sooma tDCS can be safely self-administered by patients at their own home. They visit the clinic once, are instructed by a nurse on how to administer the treatment, and borrow the equipment to take home. You may use our cloud-based platform and patient app to monitor that your patients are still following the treatment protocol, or implement weekly follow-up phone calls with patients.

Treatment protocol

We recommend 7 tDCS sessions per week in order to retain the response and effect from ECT and rTMS. That means one session of tDCS per day until patients can safely resume regular visits to the clinic to continue treatment with ECT or rTMS.

Thank you for reading and stay safe out there!

Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

// Sooma Team

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