The first Vagus Nerve Stimulator (VNS) was implanted in 1988, as a therapeutic option for medically intractable epilepsy, when elective epilepsy surgery was not appropriate.
As the number of implanted vagus nerve stimulators grows, so does the need to remove or revise the devices.
Which is a little tricky, because of the spiral stimulating electrodes, wrapped around the nerve.
Especially if the VNS treatment has proven ineffective.
And of course, what goes in, must come out.
Anyway you look at it, there’s more surgery involved.
“It doesn’t have a high potential for abuse, and there are very legitimate medical applications. In fact, sometimes Marijuana is the only thing that works… It is irresponsible not to provide the best care we can as a medical community, care that could involve Marijuana. We have been terribly and systematically misled for nearly 70 years in the United States, and I apologize for my own role in that.” — Dr. Sanjay Gupta — Neurosurgeon.
Neurosurgeons continue to explore the less invasive Gamma Knife radiosurgery for elimination of temporal lobe abnormalities and brain lesions.
The Gamma Knife itself has been around for quite a while, so there’s a history of its use. But its application specifically for this form of epilepsy hasn’t really been done before. Therefore, the purpose of recent research was to see if the advantages of this minimally invasive tool could provide an alternative to standard surgery…