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This afternoon I was listening to the radio (to a show called "Spark" on CBC radio dealing with technology) and I heard that some scientists are experimenting with using microchips to help control seizures.
So I did a quick web search and here's an excerpt from one of the results:
" ... One, the Intercept Epilepsy Control System, is being developed by Medtronic Inc. of Minneapolis (the company that developed a deep brain stimulator for Parkinson’s disease). A form of deep brain stimulation, the Intercept system uses electrodes surgically implanted in the thalamus, which are connected by a wire down the patient’s neck to a battery pack in the chest. The electrodes act as a real-time EEG, detecting abnormal electrical activity in the brain and sending a corrective signal to the thalamus (an area that regulates movement and is thought to play a role in controlling seizures).
A second device, the Responsive Neurostimulator System, is under development at Neuropace Inc. of Mountain View, Calif. It is essentially a microchip beneath the skull, connected to electrodesthat can be implanted in a variety of locations and deliver bursts of electricity to disrupt seizure activity."
Maybe this is old news ... but it's news to me!
So I did a quick web search and here's an excerpt from one of the results:
From The Dana Foundation
[/I]Research Holds Promise for New Epilepsy Treatments
By Elizabeth Norton Lasley
May 01, 2008
(Sorry, I can't post the link ... I'm too "young".)
By Elizabeth Norton Lasley
May 01, 2008
(Sorry, I can't post the link ... I'm too "young".)
" ... One, the Intercept Epilepsy Control System, is being developed by Medtronic Inc. of Minneapolis (the company that developed a deep brain stimulator for Parkinson’s disease). A form of deep brain stimulation, the Intercept system uses electrodes surgically implanted in the thalamus, which are connected by a wire down the patient’s neck to a battery pack in the chest. The electrodes act as a real-time EEG, detecting abnormal electrical activity in the brain and sending a corrective signal to the thalamus (an area that regulates movement and is thought to play a role in controlling seizures).
A second device, the Responsive Neurostimulator System, is under development at Neuropace Inc. of Mountain View, Calif. It is essentially a microchip beneath the skull, connected to electrodesthat can be implanted in a variety of locations and deliver bursts of electricity to disrupt seizure activity."
Maybe this is old news ... but it's news to me!