J15 — April 2009 — Pacemaker for Epilepsy

Intro: Epilepsy is a disease that can control your life. For example, the man you're about to meet had to give up his driver's license, his job and much of his social life because of uncontrolled seizures. But a new device being researched at Mayo Clinic is giving him hope. It's like a pacemaker for your brain that may stop seizures before they happen.

MIKE MCKENNA IS BACK IN SCHOOL. AFTER YEARS OF WORKING AS A BUILDING CONTRACTOR, SEVERE EPILEPSY HAS HIM LEARNING NEW SKILLS AND LOOKING FOR A NEW JOB.

"IT CHANGED MY LIFE COMPLETELY. I HAVEN'T DRIVEN FOR ABOUT SEVEN YEARS NOW."

MEDICATIONS DON'T HELP HIS SEIZURES.

"THEY HAPPEN IN MY SLEEP. ABOUT EVERY TWO WEEKS FOR THE BIG ONE AND THEN I HAVE LITTLE SMALL ONES THAT HAPPEN A LOT DURING THE DAY."

MIKE DOESN'T WANT SURGERY BECAUSE REMOVING THE AREA OF THE BRAIN WHERE HIS SEIZURES ORIGINATE WOULD BE RISKY. DESPERATE FOR HELP, MIKE ENROLLED IN A STUDY AT MAYO CLINIC WHERE DOCTORS IMPLANTED AN ELECTRICAL STIMULATION DEVICE INTO HIS BRAIN.

"RESPONSIVE NEUROSTIMULATION. IT'S A DEVICE THAT'S CURRENTLY IN RESEARCH TRIALS AT THIS TIME."

DR. JOSEPH SIRVEN SAYS THE DEVICE IS LIKE A PACEMAKER FOR YOUR BRAIN. YOU SEE, AN EPILEPTIC SEIZURE IS AN ABNORMAL ELECTRICAL DISTURBANCE OF THE BRAIN. THE DEVICE IS IMPLANTED UNDER THE SKIN AND FOUR ELECTRODES ARE ATTACHED TO THE OUTER LAYERS OF YOUR BRAIN. THE DEVICE MONITORS BRAIN WAVES AND WHEN IT SENSES ABNORMAL ELECTRICAL ACTIVITY IT FIRES ELECTRICAL STIMULATION AND STOPS THE SEIZURE.

"IT'S ALMOST LIKE SHOCKING THE SEIZURE AWAY."

BECAUSE MIKE'S IN A CLINICAL TRIAL THAT'S TESTING THE EFFECTIVENESS AND SAFETY OF THE DEVICE, HE WASN'T INITIALLY TOLD IF HIS IMPLANT HAS BEEN TURNED ON YET. BUT HE HAS HIGH HOPES FOR THE TECHNOLOGY.

"I HOPE THAT I CAN HAVE THIS THING CONTROL MY SEIZURES EVEN JUST A LITTLE BIT." SO HE CAN REGAIN CONTROL OF HIS LIFE.

FOR MEDICAL EDGE, I'M VIVIEN WILLIAMS.

Anchor tag: Dr. Sirven says this device has not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in the U.S. But if the trial shows it decreases the severity and frequency of seizures, Dr. Sirven says many people with epilepsy will then have another option for controlling their disease.

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