A Brain Implant Could Prevent Epileptic Seizures

BRAIN implant is being created that should more reliably detect and forestall epileptic seizures.

Neuropace of Mountain View, California, is already testing in humans an implant that detects seizures and then delivers an electric current to stop them. However, it only monitors eight locations in the brain and so can give false positives, says Pedro Irazoqui of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

His team has built an implant that can monitor up to 1000 regions, lowering the risk of false alarms. This will be connected to a "living electrode", also in the brain and covered with neurons that have been modified to release a neurotransmitter that suppresses the seizure. Using chemical rather than electrical signals to stop the seizure could reduce brain trauma from the implant, says Irazoqui.