For Americans suffering from Parkinson’s and essential tremor for whom medications are not sufficient in controlling symptoms, the FDA has approved St. Jude Medical‘s Brio Neurostimulation System. The implantable pulse generator is the size of a pacemaker, positioned near the chest with leads going up to the brain. These are connected to electrodes implanted into the brain tissue, allowing for artificial low energy stimulation of relevant neuronal areas to prevent tremors.
In two studies, one involving Parkinson’s patients and the other those experiencing essential tremor, the results showed a significant improvement in function in patients who had the Brio turned on and working. While Parkinson’s patients still required medication to help control symptoms, most of the essential tremor patients didn’t need any meds at all to get their symptoms under control.
So far only Medtronic’s Activa implant had FDA’s blessings to treat Parkinson’s and essential tremor, so it’s good to see more competition coming to this field.
While testing the device, there were setbacks for some patients, including intracranial bleeding, infection, and movement of the leads, but it seems like the underlying technology was not the culprit.
Flashback: A Fantastic Demonstration of Deep Brain Stimulation for Parkinson’s…
Product page: Brio…
Source: FDA…
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