People with epilepsy whose seizures cannot be controlled with medication have a new treatment option available at Albany Medical Center.
Doctors there have surgically implanted a device on two patients that is intended to short-circuit a seizure by detecting brain-wave activity that signals one is about to occur, then sending electrical stimulation to the site to prevent it.
The technique, called responsive neurostimulation or RNS, may at last bring a remedy for repeated seizures to the 40 percent of epilepsy patients who do not get sufficient relief with drugs, said Albany Med neurologist Dr. Anthony Ritaccio.
