Posted by Meltingpot on March 6, 2009, at 13:39:56
Mayo Clinic Develops New Deep Brain Stimulation Sensor to Measure Chemical Levels in the Brain
Friday, September 12, 2008
A Deep brain stimulation (DBS) consortium including Mayo Clinic physicians, scientists and engineers has developed a wireless sensor that can detect chemical activity in the brain. This study will be presented at the American Academy of Neurological Surgery meeting in Sedona, Ariz., on Sept. 12, 2008.
VIDEO ALERT: Additional audio and video resources, including excerpts from an interview with Kevin Bennet describing the research, are available on the Mayo Clinic News Blog.
This new system, called a wireless instantaneous neurotransmitter concentration sensor (WINCS), is connected to an electrode that will be surgically implanted in the brain to provide real-time measurements of chemical levels (e.g., dopamine, serotonin, and glutamate). The hope is that these measurements can help direct neurosurgeons in the optimal placement of the stimulating electrode during DBS, thereby improving outcomes for patients.DBS is a neurosurgical treatment that stimulates the brain with mild electrical signals that reorganize the brain's electrical and chemical activity. DBS causes improvements in symptoms in a number of conditions affecting the brain, including Parkinson's disease, tremor, epilepsy, depression and chronic pain.
"Potential future implications for this technology are immense," says Kendall Lee, M.D., Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic neurosurgeon and director of the Mayo Clinic Neural Engineering laboratory. "WINCS may be part of a smart deep brain stimulation device that is able to regulate neurotransmitter systems in the brain to better treat diseases such as Parkinson's disease, depression, chronic pain and others."
"This successful development is an excellent example of the value of applying research to provide better care for patients," says Kevin Bennet, chair of the Mayo Clinic Division of Engineering. "And this can be accomplished through the close collaboration between physicians, scientists and engineers."
To date, this system has been successfully used in animal trials. It has not yet been used in human studies.
Other members of the Mayo Clinic research team included Jonathan Bledsoe, M.D.; Filippo Agnesi; April Horne; David Johnson; Chris Kimble; Sidney Whitlock; and Bruce Winter. Other contributors included Paul Garris, Ph.D., of Illinois State University; Charles Blaha, Ph.D., of University of Memphis; and Pedram Mohseni, Ph.D., of Case Western Reserve University.
###To obtain the latest news releases from Mayo Clinic, go to www.mayoclinic.org/news. MayoClinic.com is available as a resource for your health stories.
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