Telepresence robot helps program brain and spine stimulators remotely

Telepresence robot helps program brain and spine stimulators remotely.

With the rapidly expanding use of brain and spinal cord stimulation therapy (neuromodulation), “remote presence” (telepresence) technologies may help to meet the demand for experts to perform stimulator programming, reports a study published in Neurosurgery.

Widely used for Parkinson’s disease and severe chronic pain, neuromodulation is being explored for use in other conditions, such as epilepsy, severe depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. In this form of therapy, a small electrode is surgically placed in a precise location in the brain or spine. A mild electrical current is then delivered to stimulate that area, with the goal of interrupting abnormal activity.