Wireless 'pacemaker for the brain' could offer new treatment for neurological disorders

Wireless 'pacemaker for the brain' could offer new treatment for neurological disorders

A new Neurostimulator developed by the engineers at the University of California, Berkeley can listen and stimulate the flow of electricity in the brain at the same time, possibly providing a cure for patients with diseases such as epilepsy and Parkinson's.

The device, named the wand, acts like a "pacemaker for the brain", which monitors the electrical activity of the brain, and if it detects something, then provides electrical stimulation.

These devices can be very effective in preventing inflammatory jerks or attacks in patients with different types of neurological conditions. But electrical signatures that occur before a seizure or shock can be extremely subtle, and the frequency and power of the electrical stimulation necessary to stop them touch evenly. Before providing optimal treatment by the equipment, doctors may take years in small adjustments.

WAND, which stands for wireless artifact-free neuromodulation device, is both wireless and autonomous, which means that once it learns to recognize vibration or seizure signals, then it is necessary to prevent unwanted movements on its own. The stimulus can adjust the parameters. And because it is closed-loop - it can stimulate and record simultaneously - it can adjust these parameters in real-time.

Rikky Muller, assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Berkeley, said, "The process of finding the right treatment for a patient is extremely expensive and it can take years, a significant reduction in both cost and duration could potentially lead to better results and Can promote reach. " . "We want to enable the device to detect that what is the best way to stimulate a patient to give the best results, and you can do this by simply listening to the nerve signature and recording."

WAND can record electrical activity over 128 channels or more than 128 points in the other closed loop systems compared to eight channels. To demonstrate the device, the team used WAND to identify and delay specific hand movements in Rhesus Macas. The device has been studied in a study which appeared in (December 31) Nature Biomedical Engineering.

Ripples in a pond

Along with this, it is very much like to stimulate and record electrical signals in the brain, such as trying to see the small waves in the pond, even squeeze your feet - the electrical signals of the brain, from large pulses of electricity distributed by stimulus Are overwhelmed.

At present, deep brain stimulants either stop recording while providing electrical stimulation, or record on a different part of the brain from which stimulation applies - essentially small waves at a different point in the pond with a splash Measuring

"To deliver closed-loop stimulation-based treatments, which is a major goal for those who treat Parkinson's and epilepsy and various types of neurological disorders, it is very important to perform both nerve recording and stimulus simultaneously, which is present There is no commercial equipment in the former UC Berkeley postdoctoral associate Samantha Santacruz said, now in University of Texas in Austin.

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Cortera Neurotechnologies, Inc. under Rickie Muller Researchers of the Wand designed a custom integrated circuit that can record complete signals from both micro brain waves and strong electric pulses. This chip design wand wants to reduce the signal from electrical pulses, resulting in a clear signal from brain waves.

Existing equipment is tuned to record signals from small brain waves only and is excited by large stimuli pulses, making this type of signal reconstruction impossible.

"Because we can really excite and record in the same brain area, we know what is happening in reality when we are providing a therapy," Mulla said.

In collaboration with the Laboratory of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Professor Jan Rabe, the team created a platform device with wireless and close-loop computational capabilities, which can be programmed for use in various types of research and diagnostic applications. .

In experiments conducted by Santa Cruz during Postdoc, in Postdoc in UC Berkeley, and postgraduate of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Professor Josem Carmen, subjects were taught to use joysticks to move the cursor to a specific place. After a training period, the wand device was able to detect neural signatures that were generated in the form of subjects designed for motion, and then used to provide electrical stimulating delay.

Muller said, "Delay in reaction time is something that has already been shown, it is for our knowledge, for the first time it has been demonstrated in closed loop system based on a neurological recordings."

Muller said, "In the future, we aim to include learning in our closed-loop platform to build intelligent instruments, which can detect how best you can and the doctor will continually intervene You can stop. "