The multicentre pilot study of the Libra deep brain stimulation system for major depressive disorder has demonstrated improvement in symptoms among patients who are highly treatment resistant.

The deep brain stimulation system delivers mild electrical pulses to a region of the brain called Brodmann Area 25.

Sponsored by St Jude Medical, the study included 21 patients, and showed that deep brain stimulation therapy resulted in an improvement in depression symptoms as well as overall quality of life.

At the one-year follow-up, 62% of patients demonstrated a 40% reduction in symptoms and 29% showed a 50% reduction in symptoms, as measured using the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression.