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.
The up side to having a VNS is better seizure control.
The down side is discomfort, headaches, temporary hoarseness and shortness of breath.
Posted in
Epilepsy,
ResearchTags:
alternative,
better seizure control,
depression reduction,
drug-resistant,
effective,
enhancement,
Epilepsy,
no side-effects,
no surgery,
non-invasive,
post traumatic stress,
success rate,
trigeminal nerve stimulation,
vagus nerve stimulator
Traditionally, the mainstay of epilepsy therapy has been treatment with antiepileptic drugs (AEDs).
But for 30% of those affected, no combination of standard therapy — medications and/or surgery — can control their seizures.
Although more new AEDs have come to the market over the past 10 years than during any other time in history, their primary contribution has been to improve adverse effects of medication, rather than to make more people seizure-free.
The proportion of people with epilepsy worldwide — whose seizures cannot be controlled by medical therapy — has remained unchanged, despite all these new pharmaceutical interventions…
Posted in
Epilepsy,
Medication Issues,
ResearchTags:
AEDS,
brain,
clinicians,
engineers,
enhancement,
Epilepsy,
human health,
multi-science,
Neuroengineering,
neuroscientists,
quality of life,
restoration,
seizure-free,
surgery,
underlying seizures
