There may be finally some relief for people suffering from debilitating migraine attacks, as now a hand held “zapper gun” could bring relief to millions, according to experts.
The device is held against the back of the head of someone feeling a headache starting.
It blasts a pulse of magnetic energy which triggers an electric current in nerve cells in the brain to stop a light headache developing into a migraine.
It has proved successful in trials with two in three patients reporting no pain at all within two hours, say US scientists at the University of Ohio.
The experimental device is being developed by Californian firm Neuralieve, which hopes to market it around the world. The latest tests on it will be presented to experts at the American Headache Society conference in Los Angeles today.
One in eight people in the United Kingdom suffer from debilitating headaches and treatment costs the National Health Service ?1billion each year.
But more than two thirds of patients who have been given the new treatment during trials claimed they experienced no pain or only slight discomfort two hours after first experiencing the onset of a headache.
The Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation device has been tested by a team of scientists based at the Ohio State University Medical Centre.
Gary Stroy, the president of California-based Neuralieve, said last night: “The device is about the size of a hairdryer and is held at the back of the head.
“It releases electrical energy through a magnet, and this magnetic field then passes into the brain. This then interrupts the nerve signaling process which would otherwise result in a migraine.
“The idea was conceived about three years ago but finally we are able to build a device that people would be able to use at home.”