Hershey Medical Center is the first in Pennsylvania to offer new deep brain stimulation implant to treat neurological disease

Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center has become the first hospital in the state to implant a patient with a more personalized treatment for neurological disease. The treatment, a new deep brain stimulation (DBS) implant, uses the patient’s brain activity as a guide for therapy. The new technology represents the latest iteration of DBS, which has been available to patients at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center since 2004.

The new Percept PC Neurostimulator with BrainSense was developed by Medtronic, a medical device company, to better tailor personalized treatments to patients with neurological diseases such as epilepsy, obsessive-compulsive disorder, essential tremor and Parkinson’s disease. The first-of-its-kind treatment was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in June.

“In the past, we’ve only been able to record brain signals in DBS patients during surgery,” said Dr. James McInerney, neurosurgeon and co-director of the Penn State Health Deep Brain Stimulation Program. “With the enhanced ability to monitor patients’ brain signals over time, we’ll be better able to treat symptoms such as movement and tremor.”

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The Percept PC Neurostimulator is a small device that is implanted under the skin of the chest or abdomen and sends electrical signals to the brain through wires, called leads, to targeted areas related to the symptoms of diseases. The Percept system is similar to previous generations of DBS devices, but through its recording capabilities it allows specialists to learn more about brain activity and optimize treatment for each individual. After implantation, neurologists can program and monitor the level of stimulation through the device.

“Access to this kind of data and being able to customize treatment for our patients in this way is very exciting for us, and them,” said Dr. Sol De Jesus, neurologist and co-director of the DBS program. “This is a game-changer for DBS patients.”

More information on the DBS program at Hershey Medical Center can be found here.

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