A new implant for Parkinson’s and epilepsy patients can measure brainwaves and respond specifically to it.
The medical device manufacturer Medtronic from Minneapolis has developed a novel device that measure the neural activity in the brain and can stimulate it at the same time on an electrode. The Activa PC + S-mentioned system was tested for the first time in the patient’s use. The automated control in the near future could optimize deep brain stimulation and help physicians to use such devices for the treatment of diseases has not been thought of.
More than 100,000 patients have already received a deep brain stimulation, for example, to treat movement problems associated with Parkinson’s and other brain diseases. The therapy is also being tested for people with epilepsy, severe depression and other disorders. The functioning similar to a pacemaker devices deliver electrical shocks directly into the brain to correct any problems and prevent neuronal activities that trigger the symptoms. In current implants, the pulse pattern and currents used must be previously set by a skilled artisan. Later, a costly adjustment is then possibly necessary. New devices such as the Medtronic could make this unnecessary. “Everything was on the market today, still works as a one-way simulator,” says Joseph Neimat, neurosurgeon at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, specializes in implants for brain stimulation. “The devices can even record anything and therefore not respond to the patient.” It would be better, says the expert, when to adapt the hardware to the current brain power curve and then perform the matching stimulation would. The now taking place first studies in patients with the Activa PC + S to ensure that the Medtronic device can record the electrical activity in the brain safely while a brain stimulation occurs. This makes it possible to check in real time how the brain responds to deep brain stimulation. In animal models, the hardware has already proven that they can not only measure the activity, but also adapt their output as desired. Ultimate goal of the! researchers is a device that allows a tailored therapy, says Lothar Krinke, head of the department at Medtronic deep brain stimulation. The U.S. company is not the only player on the market. Other companies such as Neuro Pace already have “smart” stimulation implants developed that detect epileptic seizures and can then react with a power surge that will bring the brain back to the clock. Medtronic is hoping that his new implant can be used universally in patients with Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders as well as epilepsy. Even the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder is conceivable. “This is the beginning of an entirely new therapeutic approach,” says Robert Fisher, a neurologist who directs the Stanford Epilepsy Center. Instead of implanting a stimulator, which changes the electrical activity, without regard to the current state of the brain, you have to do it here with an intelligent process. “We look at what is going on in the brain and only then react.” Many neurological diseases occur in episodes, symptoms fluctuate in intensity. Devices that can interpret electrical signals that correlate with these symptoms, then to change the brain function by current pulses have not yet given it, says Fisher. the same time help the data that can record such systems, in research. Certain diseases such as depression ran from heterogeneous says Ron Solomon, a psychiatrist at Vanderbilt University, is working on new treatments for the disease as well. It often get that several brain areas are affected. “If one could objectively determine where there are differences of neuronal activity in the patient, it would be possible to divide depression into different neurobiological diseases, rather than just reacting to symptoms that can be seen externally.” In addition, is the fact that a device that can read and interpret problematic neural activity in order to then be treated with current pulses, so far can not treat diseases! covered ! by the art should. “Until now, the deep brain stimulation can be used only if a simple form of stimulation is sufficient,” says Vanderbilt researchers Neimat. Devices that automatically react to conditions other hand, could “treat numerous new diseases.” <- AUTHOR MARKER DATA BEGIN -> ( Susan Young ) / <- RSPEAK_STOP - > (bsc)<- RSPEAK_START -> <- AUTHOR DATA MARKER END -> <- googleoff: all ->
