
The 1st patient was implanted with a new iteration of Medtronic’s deep brain stimulation device that delivers therapy while simultaneously recording brain activity.
The company is touting its Activa PC+S Deep Brain Stimulation system as a game-changer in the way neurological and psychological diseases are treated, thanks to its simultaneous treating and monitoring capabilities.
Medtronic’s deep brain stimulation device, essentially a pacemaker for the brain, has been cleared in various markets to treat everything from epilepsy to compulsive obsessive disorder.
Following CE Mark, a patient with Parkinson’s disease became the 1st to receive the Activa PC+S implant at a hospital in Germany. Just like the company’s other neurostimulators device Activa PC+S sends an electrical impulse to the brain, but the novel device also sends information about the brain’s response and records specific activity.
Dr. Kai Bötzel, the German physician who is overseeing the 1st implant, said the "new system will allow us to treat patients with conventional DBS therapy, while at the same time opening the door for research that was not possible until now," according to a Medtronic statement.
Activa PC+S device is not FDA-cleared, but Medtronic’s original deep brain stimulation device is available in the U.S. to treat tremors and Parkinson’s disease.