Doctors use electrical implant to restore near-normal brain function to a middle-aged woman who was severely injured in a car accident 18 years ago
- Dr. Nicholas Schiff and Dr. Joseph Giacino presented a pilot study in Washington D.C. on Saturday of a treatment
- A woman in her early 40s who suffered brain trauma as a youth had cognitive functions and fatigue levels improve significantly, according to the study
- Dr. Jaimie M. Henderson surgically threaded electrodes deep within her brain that received a current from a pacemaker device 12 hours a day
Researchers have announced they used an electrical implant to help restore brain function in a middle-aged woman badly injured in a car accident 18 years ago.
Prior to receiving the implant, the unnamed subject would become easily fatigued and had difficulty reading or concentrating for long. She also had trouble socializing, holding a job or continuing her education.
The team of doctors presented the pilot study at a public Washington D.C. brain sciences convention on Saturday highlighting the case of a woman in her early 40s, who was a student at the time of her brain trauma, the New York Times reported.
Professor of neurology and neuroscience at Weill Cornell Medicine, Dr. Nicholas Schiff, was one of the study team leads who presented the information in Washington D.C.
‘Her life has changed,’ said Dr. Nicholas Schiff, a member of the study team and a professor of neurology and neuroscience at Weill Cornell Medicine.
‘She is much less fatigued, and she’s now reading novels. The next patient might not do as well. But we want keep going to see what happens.’
Dr. Schiff along with Dr. Joseph T. Giacino, of Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, worked with clinical centers at University of Utah and Stanford, and researchers at the Cleveland Clinic.
Dr. Jaimie M. Henderson, a neurosurgeon at Stanford, performed the surgery on the subject last summer threading electrodes in the thalamus, deep within the brain.
Dr. Joseph T. Giacino, director of rehabilitation neuropsychology at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and an associate professor at Harvard Medical School
Dr. Jaimie M. Henderson of Stanford who performed the surgery that aided the middle-aged patient regain some brain function
The electrodes received a current from a pacemaker device, implanted in the woman’s chest, 12 hours a day.
Within three months, the woman scored consistently 15 percent better than on previous standardized tests of attention, planning and executive function.
‘Getting a 10 percent improvement is considered excellent,’ said Dr. Joseph Ricker of NYU’s Rusk Rehabilitation Center to the Times, ‘and they broke right through it to 15 percent.’
The patient also reported less fatigue and no longer required afternoon naps, according to the researchers reported.
While the study is merely a test case, potentially millions of individuals with similar types of brain injuries might be able to benefit from it.
However, challenges stalling additional progress, according to Dr. Schiff, include a lack of interest and funding for the research.
Another problem for developing future treatments is finding study candidates.
‘We are targeting here the heart of the problem, moderate to severe traumatic brain injury,’ Dr. Giacino said. ‘But finding people and accessing them is difficult. They are really isolated.’