Brain 'Pacemaker'

Parkinson's disease is characterized by a loss of muscle control. Drug treatments are only moderately effective as a method of treatment. A new study shows that brain surgery is more effective in long term treatment of Parkinson's disease. The procedure most often used places a pacemaker like device in the brain that sends tonic signals through three leads to stimulate the brain. The wires run down to a controller in the abdomen which is implanted subcutaneously. The electrodes' signals block brain signals that are responsible for tremors and loss of muscle control.
The study was done in the UK, where over 300 of these brain pacemaker surgeries have been performed. Patients reported dramatic decrease in the number of severe and moderate tremors. This is an important area of research because so little can be done at the moment to stop the progression of Parkinson's disease. It affects many older people all over the world with no cure and only mild drug treatments available. I found this article interesting because I find it interesting that one biomedical device, a pacemaker, can be changed slightly and used to correct a different problem in a completely different part of the body. As biomedical devices become used more widely, it is important to consider their many different applications.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8649344.stm

David Szafron