Epilepsy Treatment Using Neuromodulation by Non-Invasive Temporal Interference Stimulation

Descripción del proyecto

Gran avance tecnológico en el tratamiento de la epilepsia

La epilepsia es un trastorno neurológico caracterizado por convulsiones recurrentes no provocadas y los tratamientos existentes se enfrentan a limitaciones. En del proyecto EMUNITI, financiado por el Consejo Europeo de Investigación, se aúna ingeniería y neurología clínica para crear un innovador dispositivo de estimulación encefálica atraumática basado en la tecnología de interferencia temporal. Esta tecnología envía señales eléctricas al encéfalo en posiciones específicas alrededor del cuero cabelludo que interfieren de forma que bloquean la actividad encefálica que provoca las convulsiones. Los investigadores generarán un prototipo clínico y lo evaluarán en pacientes con epilepsia tanto con fines de diagnóstico, como la localización de convulsiones, como de intervención terapéutica. El objetivo final es ampliar las aplicaciones de la interferencia temporal más allá de la epilepsia.

Objetivo

Epilepsy is a brain disorder characterized by sporadic debilitating seizures and declines in mental health. Available therapies suffer from drawbacks and are not suitable for all patients. The medical needs in epilepsy encapsulate those for clinically managing brain health in general, i.e. the need for precision, personalized, non-systemic and safer therapies. Potential innovative solutions are available from advances in technology but will require multidisciplinary teams which bridge between engineering and clinical neurology.
The main objective of the EMUNITI project is to develop a breakthrough, non-invasive, personalized brain stimulation device for epilepsy patients, (i) as a diagnostic for seizure localization which can guide subsequent surgical resection; and (ii) as a therapy, akin to immunizing the patient against seizures. The device is based on temporal interference (TI) of electrical signals delivered from positions around the scalp. The project will be led by Adam Williamson, who is a former recipient of ERC Starting and Proof-of-Concept grants and has IP for the technology. His lab is at the interface between state-of-the art engineering and neurology, and is based in a major European centre for clinical research on epilepsy in Marseille, France. His lab has already demonstrated in a pilot study of epilepsy patients, that TI can block seizure-provoking brain activity.
The project includes three work packages (WPs). WP1 focuses on optimizing TI stimulation at the engineering level and establishing a novel form of TI in multipolar TI (mTI). WP2 will evaluate mTI in epilepsy patients, for seizure localization and for therapeutic intervention with the potential to create brain seizure immunity through repeated mTI. WP3 administers the project and delivers the main outcome: a clinical prototype with closed-loop stimulation combining mTI and intelligent software. The successful outcome is anticipated to lead to other applications for TI in brain health.