MRI-guided stereotactic laser ablation
This is a minimally invasive approach to treat epilepsy surgically. It also provides relief from seizures without the risks associated with an open procedure.
What happens in this type of surgery is that a surgeon directs a thermal laser probe at the specific area in the brain that is causing seizures.
This destroys the brain tissue that is involved in seizures.
Vagus nerve stimulation or VNS
VNS is used to prevent or lessen seizures by sending regularly timed, mild pulses of electrical energy to the brain via the vagus nerve.
What happens here is that a generator device is implanted under the skin in your left chest area. An electrode or wire is attached to this device and placed under the skin. This wire is then wound around the vagus nerve in your neck. This device is then programmed to deliver pulses at regular intervals to stimulate the vagus nerve.
The vagus nerve is part of the autonomic nervous system, which controls functions of the body that are not under voluntary control, such as heart rate and breathing.
The vagus nerve sends information to and fro from the brain to other areas of your body. VNS may help control seizures by:
- 1. Increasing blood flow in key brain areas
- 2. Raising levels of neurotransmitters critical for controlling seizures
- 3. Changing EEG patterns during a seizure.
The device can usually reduce seizures by 20-40%.
Deep brain stimulation or DBS
Deep brain stimulation is a safe and effective surgical technique for the treatment of epilepsy.
In deep brain stimulation, electrodes are implanted into a specific part of your brain, The electrodes are connected to a generator implanted in your chest.
It is the job of the generator to send electrical pulses to your brain at timed intervals. This intervention has been shown to reduce epileptic seizures as when the subcortical structures of your brain are stimulated electrically, this helps control seizure generators initiating epileptic activities.
DBS is very effective in the management of drug-resistant epilepsy.