The following is a collection of research studies that are in progress or planned pertaining to the application of electromagnetic stimulation for the relief of Parkinson's disease symptoms.
Phase 1 Study of Motor Cortex Stimulation in the Treatment of Advanced Parkinson Disease
Sponsored by: Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris
Rationale for Study: Advanced stage of Parkinson disease (PD) is a difficult condition to treat, especially after several years of dopaminergic drugs. Recent development of neurosurgical techniques using deep brain stimulation leads has shown good behavioral results in these advanced PD patients. However, the placement of a stimulation lead in the subthalamic nucleus is a complex, invasive, and long surgical procedure. Such intervention requires sophisticated technical environment, including stereotactic MRI exam, associated with per-operative electrophysiological exploration of deep brain structures. This surgical treatment can therefore be indicated only for a few selected patients, and can not be offered to a large proportion of patients among the potential candidates. Thus, there is a need to develop therapeutic alternatives that would be technically and practically more convenient, less invasive, and that could be offered to a larger number of patients. Several clinical studies, including one led by this group, have already demonstrated that transcranial magnetic cortical stimulation could improve bradykinesia and shorten motor reaction time in patients with Parkinson disease. In non-human primate model of late stage Parkinson disease, it has been demonstrated that prolonged primary motor cortex stimulation significantly improved both akinesia and bradykinesia.
The expected benefit for the patient will be gait improvement, increase movement velocities, and finally a better quality of life associated with reduction in dopaminergic medication.
