Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has rapidly become an important way to treat Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders. In this procedure, surgeons implant patients with a system that delivers controlled electrical stimulation to the brain. This corrects abnormal brain circuits that produce involuntary movements. The system includes electrodes that are implanted in the brain which are connected to a “pacemaker” that is also implanted. More than 30,000 patients with Parkinson’s Disease have been helped by DBS surgery. More recent breakthroughs in the field are seeing it applied to diseases like epilepsy, depression and OCD.

Why Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt is one of the nation’s leaders in DBS surgery. In fact, the Vanderbilt DBS team has been featured on Good Morning America, CNN, and BBC radio. Vanderbilt was one of the first sites to test and approve DBS. Currently we are one of the most active academic centers performing DBS in the country. In addition, the DBS team at Vanderbilt has stayed at the cutting edge of the surgery. We use a modern “frameless” technique for the surgery. This means patients don’t need the unconfortable “halo” frames that were traditionally required. We collaborate with research engineers at Vanderbilt to create a computerized deformable atlas of the brain that allows us to make electrode placement more accurate. This is important, because the small size of the targets being treated require precise placement. Click here to read more.

Research in the Field of DBS

Research is an important component of the DBS program at Vanderbilt. Each member of the team is engaged in research work that is designed to improve DBS therapy and advance our understanding of neurological disease. Additional members of the research team include engineers and computer scientists (Drs. Dawant, Fitzpatrick, Galloway, Jansen and Mahadevan-Jansen, and Miga). Vanderbilt recently received an NIH grant for the use of sophisticated computer-guided targeting and placement of electrodes. This grant is under the direction of Drs. Dawant and Konrad. Research into the safety and possible neuroprotective benefits of DBS in early Parkinson's disease has also been awarded an industry sponsored grant, under the direction of Dr. Charles (Neurology). Our goal as an institute is to continue to improve the safely and effectiveness of this therapy in treating movement disorders and other neurological diseases.
 

Our DBS Team

DBS surgery at Vanderbilt is a team effort, combining diagnostic, surgical and technical expertise. Central to this success is the close collaboration of our neurosurgeons (Drs. Konrad and Neimat), with a multidisciplinary treatment and research team. The team includes specialists in movement disorders neurology (Drs. Charles, Cooper, Davis, Fang, Hedera, and Phibbs), a neuropsychologist (Dr. Tramontana), and clinical neurophysiologists (Drs. Kao, Remple, and Camalier). By collaborating the team provides state-of-the-art diagnosis and treatment for all types of movement disorders, such as Parkinson's disease, essential tremor and dystonia.