Brain Stimulator

Recently, investigators from the Stanford Epilepsy Center presented the first public results of the brain stimulation that has helped control seizures in epilepsy patients.

The study involved an implantable device that is like a pacemaker. It uses electrical energy to stimulate a part of the brain that helps minimize the seizures.

The exact mechanism of why this works is not known but it is thought to have something to do with disrupting the highly synchronized abnormal electrical activities in the brain during a seizure.

The device consists of a pulse generator that is implanted in the chest and connected to small electrical wires that are tunneled beneath the skin and up the neck to the top of the head. The wires pass through the skull and reach deep into the brain, where they deliver electrical stimulation.

Patients enrolled in the study have had epilepsy for an average of 22 years, and their cases have been so severe that epilepsy medications haven't helped much.
Some of the key highlights from the study include:

• 53 patients using the device in conjunction with epilepsy medications saw a median reduction in seizure frequency of 38 percent at three months


• 60 percent of study participants for whom researchers had long-term data reported a 50 percent or greater reduction in their baseline rate of seizures at the end of the study period—anywhere from one to four years.

Overall, the study showed extremely positive results, but like all others there were some adverse events but none were too serious.