Medtronic received FDA approval for its BrainSense Adaptive Deep Brain Stimulation (aDBS) system and the BrainSense Electrode Identifier (EI) to treat patients with Parkinson’s disease. This technology represents a major step forward in treatment by allowing the device to adapt stimulation automatically in real-time based on the neural activity of the patient.
Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) has been used for over 30 years to treat neurological illnesses like Parkinson’s. It’s similar to a pacemaker, but for the brain—delivers electrical signals to manage symptoms. DBS must be set manually, but Medtronic’s new adaptive system adjusts treatment to individual patients, reducing patients’ need to manually fine-tune settings.
As described by Brett Wall, a Medtronic executive, the technology is the culmination of more than a decade of research and development. The objective is to provide a more personalized and more efficient treatment that is responsive to a patient’s changing needs. The BrainSense Adaptive DBS system is intended to help patients with changing motor symptoms and side effects of chronic DBS.
Todd Herrington, a neurologist on the Harvard Medical School faculty, explained how such an adaptive system can optimize treatment of movement disorder patients. Stanford researcher Helen Bronte-Stewart also praised the technology, pointing out that the technology transforms treating Parkinson’s disease by changing the therapy on its own based on patient needs.
The approval is a culmination of a large global study that included major medical centers, such as Stanford University, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Amsterdam University Medical Center. The study, the largest of its kind, validated the safety and efficacy of the new aDBS technology in the clinic and at home. Medtronic reports more than 40,000 DBS patients globally are treated with its Percept devices, the largest commercial release of brain-computer interface (BCI) technology available. The BrainSense aDBS and EI systems also are on the market in Europe, and Medtronic will introduce expanded programming in the U.S. in multiple healthcare centers prior to taking it nationwide in the coming few months.
This innovation allows for patients with Parkinson’s to benefit from more precise and dynamic treatment, improving the quality of living with an adaptative system that responds in real-time to the unique brain functionality.
