Essential Tremor Your Health

About the Therapy

About DBS Therapy

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy for essential tremor uses an implanted device to stimulate the brain with electricity, blocking the signals that cause the symptoms.

What Is It?

DBS for essential tremor control is a surgical treatment designed to reduce the severity of the tremor in your arms and hands associated with essential tremor (ET).¹
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Benefits and Risks

All treatment and outcome results are specific to the individual patient, and will form part of your consultation with your healthcare professional.

Please consult your healthcare professional for a full list of benefits, indications, precautions, clinical results, and other important medical information that pertains to DBS therapy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Review some of the commonly asked questions and concerns about DBS for essential tremor.
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What Is DBS Therapy?

Deep Brain Stimulation System

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy is designed to reduce tremors associated with essential tremor.¹

How It Works

DBS for essential tremor control is a surgical treatment that may reduce the severity of the tremor in your arms and hands associated with essential tremor.¹ DBS uses a surgically implanted medical device similar to a cardiac pacemaker to deliver electrical stimulation to precisely targeted areas within the brain.

Stimulation of these areas blocks the signals that cause the disabling motor symptoms of essential tremor. The electrical stimulation can be noninvasively adjusted to maximise treatment benefits. As a result, many individuals achieve greater control over their body movements.

A DBS system consists of three implanted components:

Lead – A lead consists of four thin coiled insulated wires with four electrodes at the lead tip. The lead is implanted in the brain.
Extension – An extension connects to the lead and is threaded under the skin from the head, down the neck and into the upper chest.
Neurostimulator – The neurostimulator connects to the extension. This small, sealed device, similar to a cardiac pacemaker, contains a battery and electronics. The neurostimulator is implanted beneath the skin in the chest below the collarbone (depending on the patient, a surgeon may implant the neurostimulator in the abdomen). Sometimes called a “brain pacemaker,” it produces the electrical pulses needed for stimulation.

These electrical pulses are delivered through the extension and lead to the targeted areas in the brain. The pulses can be adjusted wirelessly to check or change the neurostimulator settings.

Operating the System

Your surgeon will provide you with a small handheld patient programmer. This programmer lets you turn the system on and off by holding it for 1 or 2 seconds against the area where the neurostimulator is implanted. However, in most cases, the neurostimulator is always on.

Next: Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions – DBS Therapy

What is deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy for essential tremor?
How does the treatment work?
What are the implanted components of the DBS system?
Is it possible to adjust the device settings?
What benefits does DBS offer?
What are the potential risks of DBS?
What is the history of DBS?
Does DBS cure essential tremor?
How effective is DBS for treating essential tremor?

What is deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy for essential tremor?

DBS is a surgical treatment designed to reduce the severity of the tremor in your arms and hands associated with essential tremor (ET).²

How does the treatment work?

DBS uses a surgically implanted medical device similar to a cardiac pacemaker to deliver electrical stimulation to the parts of the brain that control movement. Stimulation of these areas blocks the signals that cause the disabling motor symptoms of essential tremor. As a result, many individuals may achieve greater control over their body movements.

What are the implanted components of the DBS system?

The DBS system for essential tremor control consists of three implanted components:

One lead implanted in the brain
An extension threaded under the skin from the head, down the neck and into the upper chest
A neurostimulator implanted beneath the skin in the chest below the collarbone and connected to the extension

Is it possible to adjust the device settings?

The device settings and stimulation levels can be adjusted noninvasively by a clinician using a programming device.

What benefits does DBS offer?

Although there is no cure for essential tremor, DBS has been shown to reduce symptoms.²

What are the potential risks of DBS?

Risks of DBS can include risks of surgery, side effects, or device complications.

What is the history of DBS?

Neurologists and neurosurgeons have used electrical stimulation since the 1960s as a way to locate and distinguish specific sites in the brain. Brain stimulation technology was created in the 1980s.

Does DBS cure essential tremor?

There is no cure for essential tremor at this time. DBS therapy can treat some of the symptoms of essential tremor and improve function, but does not cure the underlying condition. If the treatment is discontinued, your symptoms will return.

How effective is DBS for treating essential tremor?

Individuals with essential tremor experience total or significant suppression of disabling tremor – significantly reducing disability. DBS may improve the activities of daily living for people with essential tremor.²

References

Schuurman PR, Bosch DA, Bossuyt PMM, et al. A comparison of continuous thalamic stimulation and thalamotomy for suppression of severe tremor. N Engl J Med. 2000;342:461-468.

Activa Therapy Clinical Summary, 2003

Next: Getting DBS Therapy

Information on this site should not be used as a substitute for talking with your doctor. Always talk with your doctor about diagnosis and treatment information.