DrConnected

Crippling diseases of the brain, caused by strokes, car accidents, and critical to this study, Parkinson’s devastate families and render patients vegetative or compromised in some way.  The latest research offering a genuine hope focuses on the Parkinson’s patient, and has been dubbed a pacemaker for the brain.

Still very much in the early stages, the team working at Tel Aviv University have developed a biometric chip that can potentially build on the current deep brain stimulation techniques already used, but prevent the potential over stimulation that can happen at present.  Currently the treatment is given continuously regardless of whether it is needed or not.

The use of this Rehabilitation Nano Chip (ReNaChip) would mean that electrodes implanted into the scalp can be connected with wires on the outside of head to the chip, which will then only administer the electrical stimulation when needed and take breaks as appropriate.  This means that the patient would not be receiving treatment when sleeping and, in the case of a severe epileptic, only begin treatment as the brain displays warning signs that a seizure is imminent.

Currently the equipment worn by the patient is externally visible, and the team also hope one day to be able to make the chip so small it can be etched onto the electrode thus doing away with the need for wires and boxes located elsewhere on the patients body.  The new research could certainly revolutionize the prognosis for brain disease patients and bring new hope to them and their families.