Parkinson’s patients, who cannot tie their shoes or button their shirts, regain their old healthy days with a brain battery. Patients who cannot even hold a spoon, can’t write, drink their tea and live without help before undergoing surgery, regain their freedom after brain battery surgery…
What is a brain battery, who needs to get a brain battery?
Brain batteries; They are complex electronic devices that have been increasingly used in the surgical treatment of many movement disorders, especially Parkinson’s disease. Brain batteries are used especially in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. In Parkinson’s patients who do not respond to drug treatment and who have severe tremors, a brain battery gives successful results. Patients who cannot even hold their fork or thread the needle, get rid of the tremors as soon as they get up from the operating table. Studies are also ongoing for patients with depression, obsessive-compulsive disorders, memory problems such as Alzheimer’s, epilepsy and obesity.
What is the advantage of a brain battery?
The advantage of the brain battery; be a controllable, programmable and adjustable method of treatment. So when we see a side effect, we can change it to another setting. If the patient is not satisfied or has problems, we may close it or remove it if he does not want it.
SAVE FROM ADDICTION
How does a brain battery change the lives of patients?
After surgery, Parkinson’s patients improve dramatically and can return to their normal lives. With a brain battery, we can reconnect our patients to life. In Parkinson’s patients who do not respond adequately to drug treatment, who have severe tremors or who cannot move due to stiffness and stiffness, the brain pacemaker gives successful results. However, it is very important to choose the right patient who is suitable for the operation and will benefit from the operation. Thus, patients who cannot even hold a fork, thread a needle or write, can return to their old healthy days after the necessary battery adjustments are made after the surgery. Patients who cannot tie their shoes, button their shirts, live unaided, disconnected from social life, have the chance to live independently, regain their social life and do their old jobs after the brain battery.
When is neurosurgery surgery on the agenda in Parkinson’s patients?
In medical treatment, if the drug treatment is blocked in one place, then we consider the option of surgery. Roughly 10-15 percent of patients become candidates for surgery in the long run. In addition to these, some of the patients, especially those with tremors, do not respond adequately to drug treatment from the very beginning. Such patients who do not benefit from drug therapy at first can be operated on earlier if they are suitable candidates for surgical treatment.
TALK TO TALK SURGERY
How do you insert the brain battery?
The brain pacemaker, which is considered an important alternative in the treatment of Parkinson’s, is implanted just like a pacemaker. We place two electrodes in the problem areas detected in the brain. A pacemaker, such as a pacemaker, is placed under the skin in the chest, and the electrodes are connected to the battery with extension connections passed under the skin. Then, we adjust the frequencies and warning parameters that will be good for the patient through the computer. We surgically restored around 750 patients with movement disorders who did not respond adequately to medical treatment. We performed lesion surgery on most of these patients and implanted brain pacemakers in more than 190 of them. For most of the surgery, the patient is awake and talking to us. During the surgery, patients chat with the doctor, talk about their grandchildren, and chat about matches.
Why are you keeping the patient awake?
In the ‘Microelectrode Recording and Stimulation Technique’ that we use in brain battery surgeries, we can listen to the electrical activity of a single cell in the brain. Our aim in this method; locating the cells responsible for the disease and the surrounding anatomical formations. For this reason, we do the surgery by keeping the patient awake and talking. Because in this way, it is easier for us to reach the problematic area by measuring the patient’s reactions. In the first 5-6 hours of the operation, the patient is awake and we help each other.
Is there a risk?
Rule of business; to find an anatomical formation with a diameter of 2-3 millimeters in the brain and intervene there. But we have no right to go one mile down or one mile to the side; because then the risk of the patient being paralyzed or blinded is too great! ‘Microelectrode Recording and Stimulation Technique’ is the safest method, which ensures that the results are very pleasing and the risks are so low, that is, ‘the right intervention in the right place’. This technology brings us to our goal. Thanks to this technique, we make a physiological map of the brain and find the right location of the cells responsible for that disease, then insert a brain battery.
SWIMMING FREE FOOTBALL PROHIBITED FOR PATIENTS WITH BRAIN PATTERN
Does brain battery cause a limitation in patients’ daily lives?
There is no change in the normal daily life of the patients who are fitted with a battery. Patients can carry out all kinds of sports activities such as tennis, billiards, which are not too hard and will not cause head trauma, and can swim. But sports such as football or karate are prohibited. Also, we don’t want our patients to drive. We do not want patients with a battery to have an MRI unless they have to, as they may change the battery settings and cause harm to the patients. If it’s going to be pulled, it should be under our control. We do not want our patients to go through strong magnetic fields. That’s why, for example, we provide a document stating that they carry electronic devices so that they do not have problems at the airport. They do not pass through these devices by showing their documents at the airport.
Is the battery dead or charged?
Yes, the battery life is 7-8 years. However, this period may vary from patient to patient. There is also a possibility that it will expire sooner if it is used at a higher level. The battery is not charging. We ask our patients to turn off the battery while they sleep at night, but patients who are used to the convenience of the battery and are afraid of vibrating at night usually do not turn off their batteries.
WHEN RESEARCHES ARE FINISHED, BRAIN CHARACTERISTIC WILL BE INSTALLED EVEN TO PULLS AND THOSE WITH DEPRESSION
Due to the successful results obtained in brain battery in Parkinson’s patients and other movement problems, research on some diseases other than Parkinson’s continues around the world. Patients who do not respond to medical treatment and suffer from severe and intense pain are an important area in the treatment group of the pacemaker. Depression, Alzheimer’s, obesity and other eating disorders are also among the disease groups where the benefits of the brain battery are being investigated, Sara said.
COUNTDOWN TO SARA
If we go step-by-step through these diseases, epilepsy studies are the closest to us. We expect the brain battery research in Sara patients to be concluded before the end of this year. When the positive results are announced, we will be treating epileptic patients who do not respond to drug treatment with a brain pacemaker. The second step is the treatment of psychological diseases such as severe depression and obsessive-compulsive-neurosis. We know that very positive results have been obtained in studies in these areas in the USA and Canada.
MEMORIES CAN BACK!
In the third step in the brain battery, patients with memory and recall problems due to problems in certain regions of the brain such as Alzheimer’s and obesity take place. Because, it was observed that memory was restored in some patients who underwent brain battery application for the treatment of obesity, and this was an important light of hope for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. We expect their research to be completed within a few years.
HOPE FOR BULIMICS
There are studies showing that the brain battery is also effective in eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia nervosa. However, it is estimated that the results of the brain battery applications in this fourth step will take 3-5 years.
RESEARCH CONTINUES
Neurosurgery therapy, which significantly improves the quality of life especially in Parkinson’s patients, is already successfully applied in the treatment of movement disorders and dystonia in Turkey. We are waiting for the results of research abroad to benefit from the brain battery in the treatment of diseases such as obesity, epilepsy, depression and Alzheimer’s. When the usefulness and reliability of the brain battery in these diseases is proven by scientific studies, of course, we will start to apply it together with the whole world, maybe even before in Turkey.
