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If you or someone you care about has been living with PTSD, we want you to know about something that matters: Wave Neuroscience has announced that the MeRT® system has received FDA clearance for the personalized treatment of PTSD.
That’s significant news. And we know that when you’re in the middle of struggling, “significant news” can feel abstract. So here at BrainCare Performance Center Carlsbad, we want to walk you through what this clearance actually means, how MeRT works, and what to expect if you come in to talk with us. Dr. Oluseyi Awodele, MD, MS and our team are here to give you honest answers, not a sales pitch.
What Is PTSD?
PTSD can develop after almost any traumatic experience — combat, assault, accidents, abuse, or other moments that push the mind and body past their limits. It touches people from every background: veterans, first responders, survivors of violence, and anyone who has faced something overwhelming.
If you’re living with PTSD, you may recognize some of these experiences: intrusive memories or flashbacks that catch you off guard, a constant sense of being on alert, withdrawing from people or situations, trouble sleeping, or feeling emotionally shut down. These aren’t character flaws or signs of weakness. They’re how the brain and nervous system respond to experiences that were genuinely too much to process.
Here in North County San Diego, we see this in our community every day. San Diego County is home to one of the largest concentrations of active-duty military and veterans in the country, and PTSD is not a distant concern here. It’s something neighbors, family members, and colleagues are living with right now.
Why Existing Treatments Don’t Always Help
The two most widely used treatments for PTSD are therapy — especially cognitive processing therapy (CPT) and prolonged exposure therapy — and medications like SSRIs. These work well for many people. But not everyone.
Some people find that revisiting trauma in therapy feels destabilizing, especially early on. Others have tried medication after medication without finding something that helps, or they’ve dealt with side effects that made daily life harder, not easier. If that’s your experience, you’re not alone, and it doesn’t mean treatment can’t help you. It may mean you need a different approach.
That’s part of why this FDA clearance is worth paying attention to. MeRT offers something different: a treatment that starts by looking at your individual brain, not a standardized protocol.
What Is MeRT, and How Does It Work?
MeRT stands for Magnetic e-Resonance Therapy. In simple terms, it uses information about your own brain’s electrical activity to guide a personalized TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) treatment. Instead of applying the same protocol to every patient, MeRT tailors the approach to you.
Here’s how it typically unfolds:
- We start with an EEG — a non-invasive recording of your brain’s electrical patterns.
- That data is analyzed to understand what’s happening in your brain and where.
- A personalized treatment protocol is designed specifically for your results.
- TMS pulses are then delivered to targeted areas of your brain using that individualized plan.
MeRT is non-invasive, requires no anesthesia, and involves no medication. Most treatment courses take place over several weeks, with sessions done right here in our clinic.
FDA-Cleared vs. FDA-Approved: What’s the Difference?
We want to be straightforward with you about language, because we think you deserve clarity when you’re making decisions about your health.
FDA-approved is a term used for drugs and biologics — it involves a lengthy review process including large-scale clinical trials.
FDA-cleared is the standard regulatory pathway for medical devices, including many devices used every day in hospitals and clinics. It means the FDA has reviewed the device and determined it is safe and effective for its intended use.
The MeRT® system is FDA-cleared; that’s the accurate and correct term, and it reflects meaningful regulatory oversight. We use precise language because we think it’s important that you know exactly what you’re considering.
What This Means If You’re Considering Care at BrainCare Carlsbad
This clearance is a meaningful step in the recognition of EEG-guided neuromodulation as a regulated, legitimate option for PTSD care. And for patients who haven’t found relief through other approaches, it opens a door that wasn’t there before.
Our clinic serves patients throughout North County — Carlsbad, Oceanside, Encinitas, and surrounding communities. Many of the people we see have military backgrounds or have been through experiences that changed them in lasting ways. We don’t approach any two patients the same way, because no two people are the same.
If you’ve tried other treatments and felt like you were running out of options, we’d gently encourage you not to give up. A conversation with our team costs nothing. We’ll listen to your history, answer your questions honestly, and help you figure out whether MeRT might be a good fit, or if something else might serve you better.
We won’t make promises we can’t keep. What we will promise is that you’ll be heard, and that we’ll give you real information to work with.
Ready to Have a Conversation?
If you or someone you love is living with PTSD and wondering whether MeRT could help, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to schedule a consultation. No pressure, just an honest conversation about where you are and what your options might look like.
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BrainCare Carlsbad is a designated TMS Center of Excellence, providing advanced, evidence-based care for depression and other brain health conditions. Our team is committed to helping patients of all ages find relief when other treatments haven't worked.