Targeted and intensity-optimized multi-channel transcranial electric stimulation: New methods and first applications in a somatosensory experiment and in focal epilepsy
09.01.2023 von 16:00 bis 17:15
Kaiserstr. 2, 24143 Kiel, D-Aquarium
For drug-resistant patients with focal epilepsy, epilepsy surgery is currently the most effective treatment option. However, only a proportion of these patients are eligible for epilepsy surgery. This is either because the epileptogenic zone in the brain cannot be localized with sufficient accuracy, or because it cannot be surgically removed without significant neurological deficits. In my talk, I will present new methods of personalized medicine to improve this situation. I will focus on new methods for individualized multimodal identification of the epileptogenic zone to provide the most appropriate personalized therapy. To this end, new multimodal techniques for coupling MRI, EEG, MEG and sEEG will be presented. In addition, an individually optimized technique of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) will be discussed as a new treatment option to reduce seizure frequency and severity. The latter is particularly attractive for patients with refractory focal epilepsies for whom surgery is not an option. I will present a case study where we could significantly reduce the epileptic activity using this personalized targeting and tDCS stimulation strategy. I will furthermore present a somatosensory evaluation study, where we showed that our procedure of individually targeted and optimized multi-channel tDCS outperformed standard bipolar stimulation in a group study of healthy subjects.