SAINT: Stanford Accelerated Intelligent Neuromodulation Therapy, Explained

Stanford. SAINT was designed and tested at Stanford University School of Medicine, in the Brain Stimulation Lab founded by Dr. Nolan Williams in 2015.

Accelerated. Standard TMS delivers one session a day for six to nine weeks. SAINT delivers 10 sessions a day for five days. The whole course is compressed into one week.

Intelligent. SAINT doesn't use one standard spot for everyone. A functional MRI scan maps how your brain's networks communicate, and software identifies the precise target that matters most in your brain. Neuronavigation then guides the coil to that target every session.

Neuromodulation. The treatment changes (modulates) activity in brain networks using magnetic pulses. It's not a medication and not surgery.

Therapy. It's a treatment course, delivered by a clinical team, with a defined beginning and end.

The Stanford team started from a problem: standard TMS works for some people, but it takes weeks, and only about a third of patients reach remission. They asked three questions.

• Are we hitting the right spot? Standard TMS finds its target by measuring from skull landmarks. Stanford used fMRI to find each person's best target instead.
• Are we giving enough? They used intermittent theta burst stimulation, a faster pattern, and increased the total dose substantially.
• Does timing matter? They spaced sessions about an hour apart, based on research showing the brain's response builds with that spacing.

The result was tested in stages:

The Stanford team's work progressed through published studies to regulatory clearance:

• 2020 open-label study: 90.5% of participants reached remission.
• 2022 randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled trial: 78.6% remission with SAINT versus 13.3% with sham treatment. Published in The American Journal of Psychiatry.
• FDA clearance (2022): for major depressive disorder in adults who have not achieved satisfactory improvement from prior antidepressant medication in the current episode.

After clearance, SAINT was licensed to Magnus Medical, co-founded by Stanford researchers. Magnus provides the targeting software and trains and credentials clinics as Verified SAINT Providers. In 2024, Magnus began expanding access to hospitals and private clinics across the U.S.

That's why you'll only find SAINT at verified sites, not at every TMS clinic. You can learn more about SAINT TMS locations and the SAINT protocol in our patient education library.

For people whose depression hasn't lifted with medication, the usual next steps have been slow: another medication trial, weeks of standard TMS, or more intensive options like ECT. SAINT offers a different path: a non-drug, non-surgical treatment completed in one week, with remission rates that compare favorably to the alternatives. Learn more about what SAINT treatment for depression is.

Stanford built SAINT to give people with stubborn depression a faster path to remission. Our job is to make it accessible.

Neuro Wellness TMS Centers of America is a Verified SAINT Provider offering private outpatient care with appointments seven days a week. Your consultation is free and is an evaluation, not a commitment.

Schedule a free consultation · Learn more about SAINT