Meg Denham has lived with multiple sclerosis (MS) for more than a decade.
Over time, it's impacted her mobility, her energy levels, and eventually caused her to have to give up her work.
"I had a pretty fair idea of what MS would look like but, of course, like most people, I said 'all those bad things won't happen to me. I'll be one of the people who just carries on as if nothing's ever changed'," she said.
"But over time, my MS has progressed. And so it's got more and more difficult to walk. Some of the time I use a wheelchair, a lot of the time I use sticks. I'm pretty tired.
"It's made a fairly big impact on my life."
Researchers in Tasmania are hopeful they may have found a way to reverse some of the damage the disease causes.
Many MS symptoms result from the death of brain cells known as oligodendrocytes.
These protect nerve cells by producing an insulating substance called myelin, which is stripped away when the brain cells die.
Called TAURUS, this clinical trial is assessing the use of magnetic brain stimulation to activate those oligodendrocytes to regrow and repair the myelin that has been damaged.
Lead neuroscientist Kaylene Young said while only in its early stages, the research presented a really exciting opportunity.
"One of the really critical unmet needs for people with MS is the existence of brain repair treatment," she said.
"We don't have one, and we really need one. And what we're hoping is that if we can then increase the addition of insulation back to the brain, then the nerve cells will be able to function normally and this will result in people with MS having fewer symptoms."
With the nerve cells working properly, there's potential for the restoration of movement and other compromised functions, Dr Young said.
"This is like the final frontier for MS, really, in the sense that what we really need is a brain repair treatment," she said.
"If this works, it will be the first internationally of its kind — and that would be a really massive breakthrough for the community."
For Ms Denham, it was this element that prompted her enthusiasm to be a part of phase one of the trial previously.
"Most of the MS things that come along to help people … are things that are going to just mitigate some of your symptoms, or stop you getting worse," she said.
"[This trial] means that in the long term, we could actually be looking at people with MS improving … and some of that functionality that they've lost through MS would be restored.
"And that will be just so wonderful, to get back those things you've lost. That's a dream of everybody with MS I think."
Research looks for more than 100 participants
Magnetic brain stimulation is already used as a treatment for depression, but in this instance the technology has been adapted to use a lower-intensity stimulation and affect a broader area of the brain.
Participants will come in for a daily 15-minute treatment over four to five weeks, where a magnetic coil, which essentially looks like a plastic paddle, is placed over their head.
Over time researchers will monitor if this stimulation is working to repair and regrow myelin in the brain, and will measure its impact on MS symptoms such as upper and lower limb function, cognition and fatigue.
Menzies Institute neurologist and principal investigator Bruce Taylor said the study would also rely on brain imaging techniques such as MRIs to monitor the results.
"We would hope, based on what we've seen in the first stage, that we'll be able to show … that we've been able to add myelin to the brain," Professor Taylor said.
"If we can show that, that would be a major step forward."
Researchers from the Menzies Institute are currently recruiting participants for phase two of this trial, starting in Hobart before extending to five other sites across Australia.
Overall they're looking for more than 100 people to take part, but there are restrictions on who is eligible.
These include having to have received a formal MS diagnosis, and living with a measurable level of disability to be able to show whether or not improvement has occurred.
As MRIs will be conducted, they must also not have any metal in their body, and can't have undertaken magnetic brain stimulation as a treatment for other conditions previously.
The trial is expected to wrap up at the end of next year, with researchers hopeful of having some clear results by early 2024.
More information on the study can be found here.
