Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian announced Monday it is the first medical center in California to implant a recently approved deep brain stimulation device, which provides instant feedback to optimize real-time therapy for those with movement disorders, into a Parkinson’s disease patient.

Dr. Christopher Duma, medical director of the Brain Tumor Program at Hoag’s Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute, implanted the neurostimulator with BrainSense technology from Medtronic into the brain of a patient on July 13.

“This newest evolution of the (Percept PC Deep Brain Stimulation) technology allows physicians to continuously record patient brain signals and correlate these with patient-recorded experiences, such as symptom onset and fluctuation, medication intake and side effects,” according to a Hoag statement. “This provides much more personalized, data-driven neurostimulation management for patients with neurologic disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor and even epilepsy.”

Shortly after DBS was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1997, the Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute’s Movement Disorders Program became one of the first in the country to adopt the advanced therapy for Parkinson’s disease, which uses a small pacemaker-like device that sends radio wave signals to a targeted area in the brain. Since then, Duma has implanted DBS in more than 800 patients.

“The Percept BrainSense is a game changer for neuromodulation. We can now tailor therapy to each patient’s needs based on direct feedback from brain activity,” Duma said.

In addition to offering minimally invasive surgical treatment for Parkinson’s disease, the Movement Disorders Program specializes in patient evaluation, advanced medical therapy, clinical trials and community support groups throughout Orange County.

“We are excited to be one of the first to use this innovative DBS system to help treat patients with Parkinson’s disease,” said Sandeep Thakkar, a movement disorders neurologist. “This new personalized therapy is the result of a research collaboration between our movement disorders program and Medtronic to bring practical and clinical insights to product development.

“The Percept BrainSense has transformed the standard of care for patients with Parkinson’s disease while greatly improving their quality of life,” Thakkar said. “Our ability to monitor the patient’s brain activities in real time can reduce the number of visits to the clinic — especially welcome during this pandemic.”

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