How Medtronic & UCSF gives Parkinson patients greater control over their symptoms

Deep cerebral stimulation, a process in which electrodes stimulate specific brain circuits to reduce motor symptoms, has long helped people with Parkinson’s disease to manage their tremors – but a new approach even more helps to push therapy.

Maria Shcherbakova, neurology researcher at the UCSF, stressed that this approach – called a deep adaptive cerebral stimulation (ADB) – already improves the quality of life of patients who do not react well to conventional deep cerebral stimulation. Unlike the conventional method, which provides continuous stimulation via an implantable brain device, ADB adjusted its electrical signals in real time depending on the patient’s brain activity.

This personalization gives patients better control of their unique symptoms, as well as fewer side effects, noted Shcherbakova. Therapy operates alongside Parkinson’s drugs by lowering stimulation when the drug is active to avoid excess tremors and increase as the medication wears out to reduce stiffness.

In February, Medtronic acquired the very first FDA approval for its implantable ADB system to treat people with Parkinson. The UCSF is one of the academic medical centers participating in research to help advance the use of this technology and to follow how this method improves patient results.

Shcherbakova noted that the UCSF published research last year showing that ADB can provide more precise control of Parkinson symptoms than conventional DBS by automatically adjusting stimulation in real time according to brain activity.

“This does not say that this therapy is appropriate for everyone and should be prescribed for everyone on conventional therapy. But the problem is as follows: for some people with Parkinson’s disease and tremors and epilepsy, conventional therapy will simply not help. What is happening is that it will do this implant, and the insurance company will cover this expensive procedure, then the patient is simply to obtain a piece of metal installed in their brain for their brain.

For example, the UCSF treats a young Parkinson patient and a competitive skateboarder who has resumed the ability to skate and work after receiving an ADB implant, said Shcherbakova. Before trying ADBs, other treatment methods did not help him manage her symptoms.

She also noted that this therapy can help reduce the burden of caregivers by managing the side effects more easily.

While ADBs have a lot of potential to improve the quality of life of Parkinson patients, there are also some clinical challenges and implementation to keep in mind, added Shcherbakova.

First, therapy requires continuous development because brain activity and the progression of the disease change over time.

Medtronic and its network of researchers also work to ensure that the system is user -friendly for neurologists around the world, not just those of academic research centers. Neurologists need both training and organizational membership to integrate ADB into their workflows, said Shcherbakova.

Although certain challenges remain in clinicians by training and to personalize therapy more, Adbs offers a full -minded overview in the future where Parkinson patients can live more complete and more manageable lives.

Photo: UCSF