The idea that we can implant a Star Trek-type device that will detect seizures and interrupt them without causing injury is entirely new. And exciting. And scary.
Especially for those people with epilepsy that have seizures that begin at one focal point in the brain, but aren’t appropriate for epilepsy surgery.
Brain stimulation has now been shown to offer significant relief to patients with intractable seizures, for whom drugs and other treatments have not worked.
Severe Myoclonic Epilepsy of Infancy was first described by Dravet in 1978.
In 1992, Dravet and colleagues found at least 172 published cases. Since then there have been numerous new cases.
Dravet Syndrome, also known as Severe Myoclonic Epilepsy of Infancy (SMEI), is a rare and catastrophic form of intractable epilepsy that begins in infancy.