Controlling Epilepsy with Electronic Implants in the Brain
June 16, 2015 | Terry Sharrer
Epilepsy is both poorly understood in terms of its causes, and poorly treated because drug delivery isn’t fast enough to localize and prevent seizures. To address this, researchers in France and Sweden and made a tiny, organic electro-pump that can be implanted directly into the brain. It is twenty times thinner than a human hair, and can either deliver a drug precisely when needed or change the electrical activity in the disturbed region. The control mechanism is external, but the developers foresee a completely embedded and autonomous device being possible. MORE