Invention: Treatment for Parkinson's disease
The invention by French neurosurgeon and physicist Alim-Louis Benabid of high-frequency deep brain stimulation (DBS) for Parkinson's disease and other neurological conditions has allowed patients around the world to resume functional and fulfilling lives without the need for radical surgeries.
DBS is administered via an electric probe permanently
implanted inside the brain, similar to a pacemaker for cardiovascular
complications. It has changed significantly how people diagnosed with Parkinson's
are treated and their outlook for a high quality of life. Previously, patients suffering
from advanced tremor related to Parkinson's disease (PD) would often undergo
radical surgeries to create so-called "lesions" - removing entire
segments of the brain; a practice dating back to the 1940s. Treatments with
dopamine-producing oral drugs proved a gentler alternative, but could
potentially worsen symptoms.
As the world's first alternative to lesions and pharmaceuticals, high-frequency DBS was discovered by chance. Performing brain surgery on a patient with PD in 1987, Alim-Louis Benabid inserted an electronic probe into the patient's thalamus, set to a frequency of 50 Hz. When Benabid increased the frequency to 100 Hz, the patient's tremor - a muscle complication associated with advanced PD - subsided entirely. Thanks to this eureka moment, DBS has become the clinical standard for treating advanced PD and conditions such as epilepsy, essential tremor and dystonia.
While DBS at other frequencies was first researched as a method to treat PD in the 1960s, it showed very modest results and was largely abandoned. Benabid reignited interest in the approach after finding the exact high-frequency range that decreased tremor symptoms. He went on to create the associated technology that made the treatment practical.
Societal benefit
The Parkinson's Disease Foundation estimates around 7 to 10 million people worldwide are currently living with Parkinson's disease. Once it has progressed to advanced stages, the disease often prevents patients from maintaining functional lifestyles. The effects of DBS can be life-changing, allowing patients previously immobilised by PD to resume functional, self-directed lifestyles. After receiving CE marking approval for PD treatment in Europe in 1998 and full US FDA approval in 2002, DBS has been administered to over 150 000 patients and has become a standard treatment worldwide.
The initial cost of the procedure yields tremendous paybacks. While the National Parkinson Foundation estimates the cost for DBS surgery at between EUR 31 700 (USD 35 000) and EUR 45 300 (USD 50 000) and upwards of EUR 63 500 to EUR 90 700 (USD 70 000 - 100 000) for bilateral procedures, according to the Movement Disorder Society, the lifetime incremental cost-utility ratio for deep brain stimulation was EUR 6 700 per quality-adjusted life year (QALY).
Economic benefit
Benabid co-founded a start-up company, Clinatec, to bring inventions surrounding DBS to market, including a transcranial fixing device, patented in 2010. The original invention was commercialised in a partnership between Benabid's company Clinatec and Medtronic, an Irish med-tech firm with 85 000 employees and EUR 25.5 billion company turnover in 2014.
The technology is part of a thriving world market for neurological stimulation therapies. A recent study estimates the global neuromodulation market - including deep brain stimulation along with technologies such as spinal cord stimulation, and transcranial magnetic stimulation - at EUR 3.31 billion (USD 3.65 billion) in 2015 (MarketsandMarkets). The market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 11.2% to reach EUR 5.62 billion (USD 6.20 billion) by 2020.
