A female patient at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) in the United States became the first patient in the world to benefit from an implantable brain stimulator. The stimulator changed the symptoms of two diseases that bothered her: seizures and obsessive-compulsive disorder. The case study, published in the journal Neuron, describes the interactive programming of a responsive neurostimulation system (RNS) that successfully controlled a disease that once disrupted this patient's life.
Before starting RNS**, Amber Pearson, an American patient, had obsessive-compulsive disorder and washed her hands every day until her skin broke and bleed. Her hands had been washed so dry that the mere bending of her fingers would crack the joints**; She also double-checks windows and closets and repeatedly makes sure the stove is turned off. She also can't sit next to someone else when she eats out, for fear that other people's food will stain her.
On March 5, 2019, she underwent an operation. The neurosurgery team at the OHSU School of Medicine implanted electrodes in her brain, initially with the primary aim of controlling her seizures.
Pearson had undergone standard surgery for drug-resistant seizures in 2018, removing a small portion of the brain that caused the seizures. But surgery prevented only some of her symptoms and not all of them, so Pearson opted for an RNS implant. The new implant actively monitors brain activity and sends out small pulses to calm the condition before a seizure begins.
In the process, Pearson learned that some people reported that the implants also alleviated mental illness, including obsessive-compulsive disorder. So, she decided to give it a try.
A few months after the brain implant, Pearson unexpectedly found that his OCD had eased. Four years later, the surgery changed her life completely, and OCD was gradually moving away from her. She stated that "I have been able to build healthier relationships with the people in my life".
According to the researchers, the dual-programmed implant device, which monitors brain activity associated with epilepsy and obsessive-compulsive disorder, is the only device in the world that can handle both diseases at the same time, is independently programmed, and the protocol for epilepsy is not the same as the protocol for OCD. (Science and Technology ** Reporter Zhang Mengran).