Acknowledgement
We would like to thank Dr Tra Mi Phan, Movement Disorders, Medtronic Neurological Europe, for her contributions to this section.
Neurologist and neurosurgeons have used electrical stimulation since the 1960s as a way to locate and distinguish specific sites in the brain. In the process, they discovered that stimulation of certain brain structures could suppress the symptoms of neurological disorders such as Essential Tremor and Parkinson's disease.
Medtronic developed brain stimulation technology in the 1980s in conjunction with leading physician researchers. In 1987, professors Alim-Louis Benabid and Pierre Pollak of the University of Grenoble in France published the results of the first application of deep brain stimulation for the treatment of movement disorders. Since then, three indications for Activa®Therapy have become available.
Activa®Tremor Control Therapy, which has been approved in Canada, Europe and Australia since 1995 and in the United States since 1997, targets the thalamus to suppress tremor associated with Essential Tremor or Parkinson's disease. The thalamus is the brain's message relay center and is intricately involved in movement control.
Activa®Parkinson's Control Therapy was approved in the United States in 2002. It has been approved in Canada, Europe and Australia since 1998. It extends the use of Medtronic's brain stimulation technology to benefit patients with advanced, levodopa responsive Parkinson's disease. Activa®Parkinson's Control Therapy targets the subthalamic nucleus (STN) or the internal globus pallidus (GPi) to suppress some of the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. These areas are also intricately involved in movement control.
With the invention of the pacemaker, Medtronic created a new industry based on medical technology. For over 50 years, Medtronic has worked with physicians from around the world to create products and therapies that alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life. Medtronic currently provides products and services that treat more than 2 million people a year. For more information about Medtronic, visit www.medtronic.com.
ET is a common neurological condition, often misdiagnosed as Parkinson’s. Its cause is unknown, but can run in families, resulting in fast, rhythmic trembling in the hands, head, legs, trunk or voice. Whilst the tremors experienced by people with Parkinson’s are apparent during rest periods, ET is an ‘action’ tremor - it is more pronounced when the affected part of the body is being used, for example in the hands when writing.
More information and support is available from the National Tremor Foundation – www.tremor.org.uk
Part of the brain that is one of the target sites for deep brain stimulation and lesioning.
The main type of drug prescribed to treat Parkinson's disease and has been in use since the late 1960s. The aim is to increase the levels of dopamine in the brain. Dopamine cannot be directly replaced because it cannot cross the blood-brain barrier that prevents potentially harmful substances in the blood from entering the brain. Levodopa is a chemical compound that can cross this barrier and is then converted into dopamine.
See also Types of medication available.
Collective name for conditions that affect a person’s abilities to produce and control movement. They include Parkinson’s disease, restless leg syndrome and dystonia.
Physicians specializing in the field of neurology (a branch of medicine dealing with disorders of the nervous system ) are called neurologists and are trained to diagnose, treat, and manage patients with neurological disorders. Most neurologists are trained to treat and diagnose adults with neurological disorders.
Pediatric neurologists, nearly always a subspecialty of pediatrics, treat neurological disease in children.
Neurologists may also be involved in clinical research, clinical trials, as well as basic research and translational research.
A surgeon who specialises in treating diseases of the nervous system.
The part of the brain that relays sensory information to the cortex. It is one of the target sites for lesioning surgery used to treat Parkinson’s.
Part of the basal ganglia that is one of the target sites for deep brain stimulation.
