Vanderbilt engineers, neurosurgeon develop database, software that improves Parkinson’s surgery

For patients with movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, simple activities such as drinking a cup of coffee or walking to the dinner table present a challenge. Their limbs jerk or move without control. Medication can ease these symptoms, but over time the body stops responding to drug therapy.

Many of these cases are helped by deep brain stimulation (DBS), a surgical procedure in which electrodes are placed in the brain at key sites responsible for movement. Wires attached to the implants are secured to an electrical stimulation device similar to a heart pacemaker that is placed under the skin near the collarbone. Electrical pulses, which travel from the stimulator along the lead wire to the implant, block abnormal nerve signals that cause tremors and other unwanted movements.