Responsive neurostimulation device is a

medical device A medical device is any device intended to be used for medical purposes. Significant potential for hazards are inherent when using a device for medical purposes and thus medical devices must be proved safe and effective with reasonable assura ...

that senses changes in a person's body and uses

neurostimulation Neurostimulation is the purposeful modulation of the nervous system's activity using invasive (e.g. microelectrodes) or Non-invasive procedure, non-invasive means (e.g. transcranial magnetic stimulation, transcranial electric stimulation such as ...

to respond in the treatment of disease. The

FDA The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...

has approved devices for use in the United States in the treatment of

epileptic seizures A seizure is a sudden, brief disruption of brain activity caused by abnormal, excessive, or synchronous neuronal firing. Depending on the regions of the brain involved, seizures can lead to changes in movement, sensation, behavior, awareness, o ...

and

chronic pain Chronic pain is pain that persists or recurs for longer than 3 months.https://icd.who.int/browse/2025-01/mms/en#1581976053 It is also known as gradual burning pain, electrical pain, throbbing pain, and nauseating pain. This type of pain is in cont ...

conditions. Devices are being studied for use in the treatment of

essential tremor Essential tremor (ET), also called benign tremor, familial tremor, and idiopathic tremor, is a medical condition characterized by involuntary rhythmic contractions and relaxations ( oscillations or twitching movements) of certain muscle groups i ...

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

Tourette's syndrome Tourette syndrome (TS), or simply Tourette's, is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in childhood or adolescence. It is characterized by multiple movement (motor) tics and at least one vocal (phonic) tic. Common tics are blinki ...

, depression,

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, considered by multiple organizations to be a disease, in which excess Adipose tissue, body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can potentially have negative effects on health. People are classifi ...

, and

post-traumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops from experiencing a Psychological trauma, traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natural disaster ...

Medical uses

Epilepsy

The use of neurostimulation to treat epileptic seizures is only recommended in those who have failed multiple medications for the treatment of their seizures. The NeuroPace RNS system was approved for use by the FDA in 2013 and is the only medical device for epilepsy that uses responsive neurostimulation. The device is surgically implanted into the patient's head with electrical leads placed near the site in the

brain The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...

that is believed to be the origin of the patient's seizures. These leads record electrical activity in the brain and deliver electrical stimulation when a seizure is detected. The device keeps a record of abnormal electrical activity that is reviewed by a

neurologist Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous system, which comprises the brain, the ...

to improve the detection and treatment of seizures. The patient is able to record when they are having symptoms with the device to see if their symptoms are correlating with seizures. The use of responsive stimulation has found to be effective for seizure reduction. Some patients are able to achieve complete seizure freedom with responsive and non-responsive neurostimulation.

Chronic pain

Neurostimulation for chronic pain is primarily through the use of

spinal cord stimulator A spinal cord stimulator (SCS) or dorsal column stimulator (DCS) is a type of implantable neuromodulation device (sometimes called a "pain pacemaker") that is used to send electrical signals to select areas of the spinal cord (dorsal columns) for ...

s. These devices deliver electrical stimulation to different areas of the

spine Spine or spinal may refer to: Science Biology * Spinal column, also known as the backbone * Dendritic spine, a small membranous protrusion from a neuron's dendrite * Thorns, spines, and prickles, needle-like structures in plants * Spine (zoology), ...

based on where they are implanted. Since 2012,

Medtronic Medtronic plc is an American-Irish medical device company. The company's legal and executive headquarters are in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, while its operational headquarters are in Minneapolis, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Medtronic rebased to I ...

has produced spinal cord stimulators with

accelerometer An accelerometer is a device that measures the proper acceleration of an object. Proper acceleration is the acceleration (the rate of change (mathematics), rate of change of velocity) of the object relative to an observer who is in free fall (tha ...

s that can predict the patient's position. The device can be programmed to give additional electrical stimulation if the patient is thought to be in a more painful position.

Research

Reponsive neurostimulation is an active area of research with multiple clinical trials underway. Continuous, or ''non-responsive'', neurostimulation has been FDA approved since 2002 with the introduction of deep brain stimulators for Parkinson's disease. As medical technology has improved, so has our understanding of

neural network A neural network is a group of interconnected units called neurons that send signals to one another. Neurons can be either biological cells or signal pathways. While individual neurons are simple, many of them together in a network can perfor ...

s and their role in human disease. Adding sensing capabilities to these devices has provided new targets to stimulate and feedback into how to more effectively stimulate the brain. At this time, there are clinical trials for reponsive neurostimulation devices in the treatment of