European Minds Come Together for DBS Injectable Magnets

Image credit: BRAINSTORM

A cross-Europe collaboration is set to test if injecting microscopic magnets into the brain could be a path forward for treating neurological conditions including epilepsy, depression, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

Known as BRAINSTORM, the four-year project sees researchers from Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK and Finland working to develop tiny magnets, which through a type of deep brain stimulation (DBS) would be injected into the brain to help restore function to damaged neurons.

Professor Hadi Heidari, lead for the University of Glasgow contingent of BRAINSTORM, said the study provided an opportunity to explore a less risky treatment method as compared with other forms of neuromodulation requiring invasive surgeries.

“BRAINSTORM is an exciting new opportunity to rethink how wireless neuromodulation is delivered,” said Prof Heidari in a statement.

“It builds on recent advances in magnetic coil nanofabrication, materials science and medicine to allow us to find new ways to precisely ‘switch on’ or ‘switch off’ neuronal activity for therapeutic effects.”

Refer to the BRAINSTORM website for further information.