A brain implant has been developed by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia that could be used to treat epilepsy in the future.
Dr Brian Litt, the principal investigator and an associate professor of neurology at the facility, stated the electrode array may be used to pinpoint the exact location seizures start in the brain and even be able to act to shut them down.
The findings of the research are published in this month's issue of Nature Neuroscience and are also being presented at the 2011 Society for Neuroscience meeting in Washington DC.
Dr Story Landis, director of the National Institude of Health's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the body that funded the research, added the work of the scientists on the study "reflects a confluence of skills and advances in electrical engineering, materials science and neurosurgery".
"These flexible electrode arrays could significantly expand surgical options for patients with drug-resistant epilepsy," he said.
In an animal model used for the study, the researchers witnessed spiral waves of brain activity not previously observed during a seizure by using the brain implant.
Dr Litt stated if they are able to replicate this finding with humans, it opens up "the possibility of treating seizures with therapies like those used for cardiac arrhythmias".
Read more: http://www.epilepsyresearch.org.uk/news/article.php?id=466
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