{"doi":"10.1016/j.brs.2023.07.011","title":"Beam F3 and 5.5 cm targeting show similar efficacy in rTMS treatment of depression: a randomized trial","abstract":"Background: The two most common targeting methods for localizing the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) treatment site in repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) include the Beam F3 and 5.5 cm method.They localize to different regions.We conducted a clinical trial to compare efficacy between them, with a prospective, randomized, singleblind design in a naturalistic sample of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) undergoing clinical treatment.Methods: 105 adult patients with MDD (mean age43.2;range18-73; 69 female) were randomized to receive rTMS to the Beam F3 or 5.5 cm target.Between group differences from pre-to post-treatment were evaluated with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), and clinician-administered Montgomery-sberg Depression Scale (MADRS).Primary treatment endpoint was completion of daily treatment series with at least 20 treatments.Subjects with head circumference >60 cm were excluded.Results: No statistically significant differences were discovered on any measure between the F3 and 5.5 cm groups, including percent change (PHQ-9: 39% vs. 39%, n94, p0.95;GAD-7: 34% vs. 27%, n76, p0.50;MADRS: 40% vs. 38%, n67, p0.83), response rates (PHQ-9: 37% vs. 43%; GAD-7: 27% vs. 30%; MADRS: 43% vs. 43%), and remission rates (PHQ-9: 22% vs. 21%; MADRS: 20% vs. 19%).The study was terminated following interim analysis due to futility.Conclusions: Similar antidepressant effects were observed with DLFPC rTMS using either the Beam F3 or 5.5 cm targeting method and may be equivalent for clinical use in patients with head circumference <60 cm.Comparison to MRI-based targeting requires further investigation.","journal":"Brain stimulation","year":2023,"id":386614,"datarank":0.10397207708399181,"base_score":0.6931471805599453,"endowment":0.6931471805599453,"self_citation_contribution":0.10397207708399181,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.10397207708399181,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":1,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9554,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2023-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1032590,"name":"Brandon Neisewander","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":274745,"name":"Patrick Ten Eyck","orcid":"0000-0002-5041-0708","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":274746,"name":"Aaron D. Boes","orcid":"0000-0002-7865-9257","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":274740,"name":"Nicholas T. Trapp","orcid":"0000-0003-0287-2964","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":897109,"name":"Benjamin D. Pace","orcid":"0000-0002-5057-8041","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":0,"raw_metadata":{"citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-07-19T01:18:00.717763Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}