Epidural Electrotherapy for Epilepsy

Abstract

Penetrating electronics have been used for treating epilepsy, yet their therapeutic effects are debated largely due to the lack of a large-scale, real-time, and safe recording/stimulation. Here, the proposed technology integrates ultrathin epidural electronics into an electrocorticography array, therein simultaneously sampling brain signals in a large area for diagnostic purposes and delivering electrical pulses for treatment. The system is empirically tested to record the ictal-like activities of the thalamocortical network in vitro and in vivo using the epidural electronics. Also, it is newly demonstrated that the electronics selectively diminish epileptiform activities, but not normal signal transduction, in live animals. It is proposed that this technology heralds a new generation of diagnostic and therapeutic brain-machine interfaces. Such an electronic system can be applicable for several brain diseases such as tinnitus, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, depression, and schizophrenia.

Transient Potassium Channels: Therapeutic Targets for Brain Disorders

“…Epilepsy is characterized by repeated convulsive seizures. Seizures are known to be caused by excessive excitation or suppressed inhibition in neural networks (Yang and Cox, 2008, 2011; Park et al, 2018). One-third of epilepsy is a generalized seizure often accompanied by loss of consciousness, affecting the entire brain.…”

2D Materials for Skin‐Mountable Electronic Devices

“…Figure 7b presents the example of a chemically doped four-layer graphene electrode to detect epilepsy patterns on the cortical surface in a noninvasive manner and apply appropriate electrical stimulation to relieve epileptic seizures. [220] This noninvasive electrical stimulation for treating brain diseases perfectly accords with implantable bioelectronics for medical purposes, compared to conventional invasive deep brain stimulators. In vivo experiments have been conducted with an anesthetized mouse, which is injected with 15 × 10 −3 m bicuculline for induction of epileptiform activity.…”

“…[213,214] Figure 7c shows disturbances caused by light due to the opaque Pt electrodes, which limit its optogenetic applications. [214] By contrast, the graphene electrodes [220] Copyright 2018, Wiley-VCH. c) In situ optical observation during optogenetic studies enabled by transparency of graphene.…”

Advanced Electrical and Optical Microsystems for Biointerfacing

“…Yang and coworkers reported a multimodal four‐layer stacked graphene ECoG array for treating epilepsy ( Figure a). [ 208 ] The ECoG array consists of 10 recording and 20 stimulation channels, respectively. The single electrode site has a dimension of 60 × 60 μm 2 .…”

“…Reproduced with permission. [ 208 ] Copyright 2018, Wiley‐VCH. b) A multimodal syringe‐injectable mesh electronic device with recording (red arrows) and stimulation (black arrow) electrodes.…”