New DBS trial offers hope for Parkinson's
When I first started telling people about my Parkinson’s diagnosis three years ago, a few who knew a bit about the condition had a question for me - are you going to try Deep Brain Stimulation?
DBS is a pretty serious surgical procedure involving placing a device in the brain which sends electrical impulses to target specific areas with the aim of controlling Parkinson’s symptoms such as tremors. It’s used only when medication has failed to do that job.
So my answer was always a polite “no”, while thinking privately “are you bonkers? I’m not having my head drilled open in some Frankenstein experiment when my symptoms aren’t that bad and I’m only just starting on medication.”
No doubt an over-reaction on my part, though the statistics appear to show that DBS, which first got regulatory approval in the US 25 years ago, is still a pretty fringe treatment, available to under 5% of people with Parkinson’s worldwide.
But this week comes news of a trial which could make Deep Brain Stimulation a simpler and less expensive procedure, meaning it could be offered to far more people. The trial is happening in Bristol and involves finding out whether the world’s smallest DBS device is both safe and effective..
Existing devices involve a battery being implanted in the patient’s chest with wires then running up under the skin to the brain. But the Picostim DBS system, is about a third the size of conventional devices, meaning the battery can be implanted directly into the skull, making the whole procedure simpler and less of an ordeal.
The plan is for up to 25 patients to test the device but one, Tony, had his implanted back in November 2020 and seems happy with the results, explaining that he woke after surgery and was surprised that he had no pain. “I was operated on a Wednesday and went home on Thursday afternoon, I felt tired but, I still had no pain,” he says. “The impact has been amazing, the dystonia which is a side effect from the medication has gone. I can now walk two miles or more, whereas before DBS, I could get about 200 yards then I would have to rest. I am back playing golf, not as well as I used to, but that’s probably down to old age catching up; but at least I’m back playing.”
This video of Tony before and after the implant certainly backs that up:
The consultant neurologist running the trial Dr Alan Whone is also optimistic about its prospects:“We are hopeful that if these findings hold-up, we will have a significant technical advance by which to improve Parkinson’s care across the world”.
I met Dr Whone earlier this year when I visited another project he’s involved in which I described as the “Parkinson’s Big Brother House”, the SPHERE house which the University of Bristol has fitted out with sensors for research into various medical conditions. There, Dr Whone and his team are tackling a huge problem I keep coming back to, finding a more accurate way of measuring the symptoms of Parkinson’s to see whether it’s getting better or worse.
It will obviously be important for the DBS trial to have a method of assessing the improvement in people given this device, and comparing them with those given conventional DBS systems. So perhaps the technology being developed at the SPHERE house can play a part in deciding whether or not this new slimmed down deep brain procedure offers new hope for people with Parkinson’s.
I still feel far from needing this kind of major intervention but it is a comfort to know that the science is advancing and could help me live better with my condition in the coming years.
Good news on positive steps ..