In 2013, the US Food and Drug Administration approved an implantable medical device for the treatment of epilepsy..

Today, physicians at the Rush Epilepsy Center in Illinois are the first to introduce a new activity simulation system to the world that allows for much better control of seizures..

Epilepsy is a condition characterized by frequent seizures. American statistics show that 1 in 26 US residents will develop this disease at some point in their lives..

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2.3 million Americans already suffer from epilepsy, including 450,000 children under the age of 17..

The device, called the NeuroPace RNS System, works by continuously detecting abnormal electrical activity in specific areas of the brain and delivering electrical shocks to those areas.. In this way, the device suppresses convulsive activity even before a person has an attack, and the patient can live an almost full life without fear of sudden convulsions..

In its opinion, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clarifies that the RNS System device should be used in parallel with the drugs prescribed to the patient.. The device is implanted in patients over the age of 18 who have three or more "

The device is surgically implanted under the scalp and connected via electrodes to specific areas of the brain where seizure activity occurs.. An embedded computer chip is used to record data and regulate pacing response..

Simulation predicts the appearance of electrical activity in the brain.

“Many people with epilepsy experience unpredictable epileptic seizures every day, making it impossible for them to do activities such as driving a car, operating machines, and sometimes just office work,” says Dr. Marvin Rossi (Marvin Rossi). Dr. Rossi - one of the main developers of the device, participant in the NeuroPace Pivotal Clinical Trial, professor of neurology at the Rush Epilepsy Center.

He and his team explained that the new electrode placement proposed at the Rush Epilepsy Center is based on a computer mapping system and allows surgeons to place electrodes precisely over the area of \u200b\u200bthe temporal lobe that is responsible for seizure activity..

By stimulating these zones, we stop epileptic activity.. The new simulation system can predict where activity will occur and where it will spread in the brain, so the device will be more effective at interrupting these circuits and preventing seizures..

Scientists noted that the device works like an electroencephalograph installed directly in the brain, which records brain activity..

Half of the patients on the trial completely disappeared seizures.

As expected, the RNS System completed a 3-month, randomized, controlled trial of 191 patients with drug-resistant epilepsy prior to FDA review..

The results showed that 29% of patients had 50% fewer seizures when the device was on.. In addition, about half of the patients who additionally used the Rush Center activity simulation system had seizures completely stopped.. Additional tests took 10 days.

Dr. Rossi says the device is now being used at the Rush Center as " The professor said the nascent technology is a hope for many thousands of patients who cannot control epilepsy with conventional medications..

He says: “Not so long ago it was considered very unlikely that such patients would live without seizures.. Now several of our patients with the new device are already able to drive, reduce the daily dose of drugs or completely refuse them, and almost not limit themselves in everyday life.. There is no doubt that the quality of life of most patients with an implantable stimulator has improved significantly.”.

Approximately 150,000 new cases of epilepsy are diagnosed each year in the United States, and the estimated cost of epilepsy treatment and management in the United States is $15.5 billion per year..

medbe. en.