Adaptive brain pacemaker eased Parkinson's symptoms
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An implant that responds to brain signals in real time was shown to ease symptoms of Parkinson's disease instantaneously in a limited trial of whether "closed loop" technology can help patients as they go about their daily lives.
Why it matters: It's an example of how deep brain stimulation combined with artificial intelligence can track a patient's brain activity for tremors, limb stiffness and other features of a condition that's diagnosed in almost 90,000 people in the U.S. each year.
How it works: The approach developed by University of California-San Francisco researchers differs from conventional deep brain stimulation treatments that deliver constant electric currents and can lead to unwanted side effects.
- It uses algorithms that sense motor symptoms and produce a personally tailored level of brain stimulation to prevent them, adjusting to what the patient needs at any given moment.
- The new technology reduced involuntary movements and other symptoms by 50% in four patients who had Parkinson's for at least 10 years, researchers wrote Monday in Nature.
The adaptive algorithms allow for "dynamic change," said study co-author Lauren Hammer, a University of Pennsylvania neurologist who worked on the research as a post-doc. "It responds to what your brain is doing, second by second, minute by minute."
Yes, but: The technology doesn't change the trajectory of the degenerative disease.
- There also are significant challenges to making the therapy widely available.
- "One of the big issues ... is access, both for patients in terms of where they can get it and also the physicians who need special training to program these devices," said Megan Frankowski, program director for NIH's BRAIN Initiative, which helped fund the project.
What's ahead: The adaptive technology could help people with depression, chronic pain and obsessive-compulsive disorder, the New York Times reported.
- The new technology could become more widely available in the next couple of years as companies move toward regulatory approval for the necessary software, Hammer said.
