Tech | September 12, 2009 | 12 comments

Smart implants may alleviate neurological conditions

source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327255.800-smart-implants-may-alleviate-neurological...

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SMART implants in the brains of people with neurological disorders could eventually help develop treatments for people with Parkinson's disease, depression and obsessive compulsive disorder.

Last week, a team from Medtronic of Minneapolis, Minnesota, reported on their design for a neurostimulator at the Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society meeting in Minneapolis. The devices use electrodes to deliver deep stimulation to specific parts of the brain.

...Human trials are years away, but elsewhere, NeuroPace a start-up firm in Mountain View, California, is finishing clinical trials using its RNS smart implant device in 240 people with epilepsy, the results of which will be available in December, says Martha Morrell, chief medical officer at NeuroPace. An earlier feasibility study on 65 patients provided preliminary evidence that the devices did reduce seizures...
  1. groups:
    Community,   Tech,   Health
  2. tags:
    Depression,  Epilepsy,  Seizures,  Parkinson's Disease,  3 more
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12 comments // Smart implants may alleviate neurological conditions

  • spacemikey
  • sergantonio
    • 0
      sergantonio  

    • I wonder if it could regulate Neuron chemical production
      I have a Saver, case of Bi-polar this could be areal scientific medical miracle for people like me
      Hey isn't this like what they had in Zefrin Cochran’s head in the book form of Star Trek First Contact

    • 2 years ago
  • MilchMann
    • 0
      MilchMann  
    • sergantonio:

      It could potential be a good treatment option for the depressive cycle... but I would be concerned that it would cause people to remain manic which as I hope you have come to understand is when the real lasting harm is done to you or those around you... the depressive cycle is when bipolar patients tend to decide to go back on their meds again because they can see the need more readily... as soon as mania sets in, they drop them claiming they make them feel un-natural, without ever contemplating the fact that the medication is what brought them out of their funk in the first place...

      If we implemented this in bipolar persons I am afraid the only thing we would accomplish is to have a lot of completely un-medicated compulsive people running around.

    • 2 years ago
  • maof4brats
  • Toughth
    • 0
      Toughth  

    • How about correcting familial tremors. I shake so bad somtimes I cant drink a coke because I spill it out befor I can drink it.

    • 2 years ago
  • MilchMann
    • 0
      MilchMann  
    • Toughth:

      familial tremors are a product of overly stimulated portions of the nervous system, if the tremors are effecting your life that badly, you should speak to a doctor about getting on some drugs like Propranolol, or Primidone which control the function of certain neural transmitters. If you have a tendency to shake more when you are frustrated, nervous, or excited Propranolol is probably the better choice, but a doctor that you discuss this with will go over all of that with you and make the most informed choice of medications.

      The really short story is that you do not have to live with that if you choose not to... at least if you can afford the treatment that is...

    • 2 years ago
  • kstein
  • MilchMann
    • 0
      MilchMann  
    • kstein:

      NO, autism often involves severe melding of the two hemispheres of the brain which circumvents the corpus callosum, which is also significantly smaller in autistic persons, and completely alters the way the brain functions... dyslexia is not really a disorder in the classical sense, and is not a product of a malfunctioning portion of the brain... it is a discrepancy in learning behaviors.

      These devices will only be able to help those that have portions of the brain that need to be stimulated to function normally, but otherwise do not have physical deformities.

    • 2 years ago
  • nursediesel
    • 0
      nursediesel  

    • I've known people that have had the implant for depression. It worked, in fact those that have them say they becomes more effective in time.
      It stimulates the vaso-vagal nerve. The only side effect people report is an occasional nasal sound to the voice lasting less than a second (when the nerve is zapped).
      A doctor with depression paid to have one of these implanted in himself and because of his results has fought diligently for this to pass for depression treatment.
      It is only recommended for patients that have had multiple years of treatment models without effectiveness.

    • 2 years ago
  • homunculus_14
  • rickwright
  • photi
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