Brain Implants to Treat Epilepsy, Arthritis or Even Incontinence? They May Be Closer Than You Think

'Brain implants to treat epilepsy, arthritis, or even incontinence? They may be closer than you think,' The Guardian, Aug. 17, 2024.

- Startups around the world are engaging in clinical trials in a sector that could change lives – and be worth more than £15bn by the 2030s.
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Oran Knowlson, a British teenager with a severe type of epilepsy called Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, became the first person in the world to trial a new brain implant last October, with phenomenal results – his daytime seizures were reduced by 80%. “It’s had a huge impact on his life and has prevented him from having the falls and injuring himself that he was having before,” says Martin Tisdall, a consultant paediatric neurosurgeon at Great Ormond Street Hospital (Gosh) in London, who implanted the device.

“His mother was talking about how he’s had such a improvement in his quality of life, but also in his cognition: he’s more alert and more engaged.”

Oran’s neurostimulator sits under the skull and sends constant electrical signals deep into his brain with the aim of blocking abnormal impulses that trigger seizures. The implant, called a Picostim and about the size of a mobile phone battery, is recharged via headphones and operates differently between day and night. “The device has the ability to record from the brain, to measure brain activity, and that allows us to think about ways in which we could use that information to improve the efficacy of the stimulation that the kids are getting,” says Tisdall.

“What we really want to do is to deliver this treatment on the NHS.” As part of a pilot, three more children with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome will be fitted with the implant in the coming weeks, followed by a full trial with 22 children early next year. If this goes well, the academic sponsors – Gosh and University College London – will apply for regulatory approval. Tim Denison – a professor of engineering science at Oxford University and co-founder and chief engineer of London-based Amber Therapeutics, which developed the implant with the university – hopes the device will be available on the NHS in four to five years’ time, and around the world.

The technology is part of a growing number of neural implants being developed to treat a wide range of conditions, including brain cancer, chronic pain, rheumatoid arthritis, Parkinson’s, incontinence and tinnitus. These devices are more sophisticated than previous implants in that they do not just decode the brain’s electrical activity, but regulate it. It is also a sector in which Europe is taking on the US in a race to develop the life-changing tech...
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https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/aug/17/brain-implants-to-treat-epilepsy-arthritis-or-even-incontinence-they-may-be-closer-than-you-think