Researchers have developed a wireless device that works like a “pacemaker for the brain” and could offer treatment for disorders like epilepsy and Parkinson’s.
The University of California scientists have developed a wireless device that works like a “pacemaker for the brain” and could offer treatment for disorders like epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease.
The neurostimulator, named WAND, can screen and stimulate the brain with electrical activity.
According to researchers, the device is autonomous and could instantaneously stimulate and record electrical signals in the brain.
These devices can be tremendously effective at preventing debilitating tremors or seizures in patients with a variety of neurological conditions.
However, the electrical signatures that precede a seizure or tremor can be very subtle, and the frequency and strength of electrical stimulation required to prevent them is equally touchy.
It can take years of small adjustments by doctors before the devices provide optimal treatment.
The study described in a paper co-authored by EE Prof. Jan Rabaey, Prof. Jose Carmena, Assistant Prof. Rikky Muller, grad students Andy Zhou, George Alexandrov and Ali Moin, and alumnus Fred Burghardt.
