Scientists from Rostov-on-Don-based Neurocybernetics Research Institute, which is part of Southern Federal University, claim they have come up with an idea of an instrument that enables treatment of depression and some other mental disorders, RIA Novosti reports, citing Dmitry Medvedev, head of the Institute’s cognitive and biomed neurobiology lab.

He told media their instrument “is capable of stimulating various areas of the brain using a magnetic field or other force.”

The scientist was quoted as saying, “our instrument has no name yet; it looks like a small grey box with LEDs. The box is placed between standard instruments like an encephalograph and a magnetic stimulator and works to control physiotherapeutic stimulation. This could be application of a magnetic field to excite various cortical or even subcortical areas of the brain. It is used to treat a range of diseases, including depressions, Parkinson’s or migraines.”

He feels the innovation will enhance treatment of psychological and psychosomatic disorders: “We assume using various frequency stimulations will improve the status of such patients. The instrument controls stimulation on a bio feedback basis by tuning it up to the patient’s own cerebral rhythms. When applied on a case-by-case basis, the technique gives better results; we saw that during preliminary experiments.”

Mr. Medvedev said his team had been working on the project for 15 years. There’s only one international analog, but he claims the Finnish instrument was designed to do research, not treat people.

“The Finns have a bulky and very complex device that costs an estimated $1.4m. Ours will be at least 40 times less costly,” he said.

The scientist emphasized that the development of the innovation was ongoing despite the availability of a prototype. He declined to specify when serial production could be put together: “For the instrument to be widely used in medicine it must be tested; for that, we need to obtain permits to do tests on humans. Now we simply experiment on ourselves and volunteers. No matter how great our results could be, medical science won’t accept them until we have the permits.”