Spectrum Health is the first health system in Michigan and among the first in the nation to successfully implant a recently FDA-approved device that uses electric stimulation of the brain to treat adult epilepsy patients whose seizures have not responded to medication.
The NeuroPace Responsive Neurostimulation (RNS) System is an implantable therapeutic device designed to detect abnormal electrical activity in the brain and respond by delivering imperceptible electrical stimulation to normalize brain activity before an individual experiences seizures.The procedure was successfully carried out May 6 in a six-hour surgery at Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids. The first patient, Amy Owen, 44, of Marshall, Mich., is recovering at home. A second patient, Kelly Cromer, 43, of Dowagiac, Mich., underwent surgery May 14 and also is recovering at home. (Links to surgery and interview footage of Kelly Cromer).
