Parkinson's disease: the brain stimulator that promises to stop the tremors and convulsions caused by the disease | Science and health

Fifty million more people suffer from epilepsy characterized by seizures. According to the World Health Organization, it is one of the most common neurological disorders.

But a new device, called WAND, gives hope to people affected by these neurological diseases: it promises to be "extremely effective" for the prevention of tremors and convulsions.

This neurostimulator, developed by scientists from the University of California at Berkeley in the United States, is able to monitor electrical activity and simultaneously provide energy to stimulate certain Brain regions where it detects an abnormality.

Defined as a "wireless artifact-free neuromodulation device", from which comes the acronym that names it, WAND monitors brain activity in 128 points at a time, which is what distinguishes it from existing devices that could only detect eight signals.

"We want the chip to know the best way to stimulate a patient's brain, and this can only be done by monitoring and recording their neural activity," says Rikky Muller, badistant professor in electrical engineering. and computer science at Berkeley

The electrical signals that precede a tremor can be extremely subtle, so the frequency and intensity of the electrical stimulation needed to avoid it are delicate.

To test the effectiveness of the neurostimulator, the research team used it to identify and delay movement of an arm in primates.

The WAND is wireless and autonomous, which means that when you learn to recognize the signs of tremor, you adjust the electrical pacing parameters yourself to avoid involuntary movements.

"In the future, our goal is to create intelligent devices to discover the best way to treat the patient and to prevent the doctor from intervening permanently in the process. "said Muller. in the next steps to make "small adjustments", but warns that the sale of the device can still take years.