Using acceleration sensors to quantify symptoms during deep brain stimulation surgery

Abstract

The use of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) surgery is increasing as a treatment for movement related disorders. One of the important areas of improvement is the target selection procedure. To do so, we measured the acceleration of tremor by sensors in 6 patients during their DBS surgeries to evaluate the changes quantitatively. The post-operative data analysis revealed that acceleration measurements are very sensitive to the changes in tremor and that they can be used to identify clinically effective stimulation amplitudes. With the aim to increase objectivity in symptom evaluation, we intend to introduce real-time analysis so as to provide more information to the neurosurgeon to aid him in his target selection during the surgery. © 2013 by Walter de Gruyter.