Retired teacher Klaire Partee has always been an active person. At 55, she entered a 5K obstacle race. She became alarmed while trying to climb a rope apparatus tied between two trees - it seemed as if her brain wasn鈥檛 telling her legs to move.
鈥淚 used to be so athletic,鈥� she says. 鈥淪o, it was really kind of odd. I thought 'Well, I鈥檓 either getting old or something else is going on.' 鈥�
Three years later, she had a diagnosis: Parkinson鈥檚 disease. It鈥檚 a neurological disorder characterized by tremors and stiff movements.
The disease wasn鈥檛 the only thing at the top of her mind. She wondered who would take care of her daughter, who needs 24-hour care. At this point, she was having trouble holding a cup of coffee or a piece of paper.
neurologists suggested the latest deep brain stimulation device (DBS) from Medtronic called the . She would be the first in Ohio to get it.
The device looks like a pacemaker inserted in a patient鈥檚 chest with leads that are surgically implanted in the brain.
鈥淔irst, I thought, oh gosh, drilling a hole in my head and brain surgery really sound scary. But after about two years I decided to go ahead and get it," Purtee says. "And it wasn鈥檛 that bad at all. I went home the next day, so it was really a good thing in the end.鈥�
What is the device and how has it advanced?
Neurosurgeon says this Medronic DBS device now has the ability to steer the current in the leads and record brain activity. 鈥淲e can use that sensing capability and recording capability with the directional leads to better optimize and treat the patients as far as making it more patient specific and tailored to their own brain.鈥�
For Purtee, her tremors have stopped. Her hands are stronger, and her balance is better. That doesn鈥檛 surprise Dr. Dalm. 鈥淚 just saw a patient that we implanted for a different indication, not Parkinson鈥檚. And he had gone through the same process. He was kind of holding off. When I asked him about the surgery he said it was lightyears better than what he thought.鈥�
Neurologists are wondering who else can benefit from SenSight. Dalm says the device is approved for Parkinson鈥檚 patients. But it may also benefit people with essential tremor, dystonia and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Other applications would be through clinical trials.
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