Understanding Deep Brain Stimulation and the Role of SERG in Treatment
- Samuel Wilson
- Jun 21
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 22
An established and effective therapy for people with Parkinson's - but we believe it can be improved
Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) is a surgical treatment used to manage the motor symptoms of Parkinson’s and other neurological conditions. It involves implanting electrodes into specific areas of the brain, which are connected to a small, pacemaker-like device placed in the chest. This device sends electrical impulses that help regulate abnormal brain activity, reducing symptoms like tremor, rigidity, and slowness of movement.
DBS has been shown to improve quality of life and reduce medication needs — especially in advanced stages of Parkinson’s.
Why Programming Matters
After DBS surgery, patients undergo multiple programming sessions to fine-tune their therapy. This process adjusts stimulation settings to match each patient’s unique symptom profile. But today, it’s still done manually, relying on a trial-and-error approach and subjective interpretation.
Programming typically:
Takes 4–5 hours per session
Requires deep neurological expertise
Must be repeated multiple times a year
Lacks consistent, objective data to guide decision-making
Programming is the key determinant of therapeutic success. When done well, it maximizes patient outcomes. When done poorly or inefficiently, it limits access, scalability, and trust in DBS as a therapy.
Current Clinical and Patient Burden
Programming a DBS system is not a one-time setup — it’s an ongoing, labour-intensive process that affects both sides of the therapy.
For clinicians, DBS tuning demands hours of focused, specialist attention. A single session can take four to five hours, often requiring the clinician to observe subtle changes in motor symptoms while manually adjusting multiple parameters. Because of this complexity, many specialists can only manage one patient per day for programming — creating bottlenecks and long waiting times.
For patients, the burden is also significant:
Sessions are long and physically taxing, especially for those with fatigue or advanced symptoms
Travel to specialist centres is often required, limiting access for those in rural or underserved areas
Symptoms can fluctuate during the session due to tiredness or stress, making it harder to tune settings effectively
Even when the DBS hardware works as designed, the delivery of therapy depends entirely on a workflow that is slow, subjective, and difficult to scale.
How We Aim To Help
StimSense is designed to modernize the DBS programming experience, without disrupting the tools or workflows that clinicians already rely on.
It works by:
Capturing real-time, structured symptom data through a wearable sensor
Presenting this data in a standardized, clinician-facing software interface
Seamlessly integrating into existing programming environments (like those from Medtronic, Abbott, or Boston Scientific)
In clinical testing, StimSense:
Reduced average programming time by 74% (from 270 minutes to 70 minutes)
Maintained clinical outcomes equivalent to standard care
Delivered a high correlation (r = 0.74) between sensor scores and clinician assessments
The Future of DBS Programming
The next generation of DBS isn’t just about better hardware — it’s about better delivery. As neurological care evolves, so too must the way therapy is programmed and managed.
Here’s where we believe DBS programming is headed:
Remote Programming
Advancements in connectivity and data security are enabling remote DBS tuning, reducing the need for patients to travel to specialist centres. This opens access for rural, elderly, or mobility-limited patients and allows clinicians to manage more patients without geographic constraints.
Less Frequent, Faster Sessions
As data becomes more structured and symptom tracking becomes automated, the time required for each tuning session will fall — and sessions will become less frequent overall. Instead of relying on patient self-reporting, clinicians will have the evidence they need to act decisively and efficiently.
Longitudinal Symptom Data
With consistent symptom tracking over time, clinicians can monitor disease progression, treatment response, and therapy durability. This longitudinal insight will support more personalized, evidence-driven care and inform when and how therapy settings should be adjusted.
Expansion into New Indications
As programming workflows become more scalable, DBS can be more confidently applied in additional conditions like:
Epilepsy
Dystonia
Treatment-resistant depression
Tourette’s syndrome
Structured programming enhances clinician confidence and patient access, reinforcing DBS’s impact in Parkinson’s and expanding its reach to new areas.
