Mayo Clinic researchers detected measurable brain connectivity changes within 18 minutes of deep brain stimulation in nine adults with drug-resistant focal epilepsy. The study, published in iScience in 2026, tracked communication between the thalamus and frontal lobe to establish early objective signals of therapeutic response, addressing an estimated 15 million patients worldwide who do not respond to anti-epileptic medications.
3D-printed brain cooling implant
- ▪In laboratory tests on rats with chemically induced focal seizures, the University of Sheffield's 3D-printed brain cooling implant reduced local field potential power by 70 percent at an optimal tissue temperature of 18°C.
- ▪The 10×10×3 millimeter 3D-printed cooling implant prototype comprises a graphite-silicone bottom electrode layer, a middle bismuth telluride Peltier thermoelectric cooling module, and a top microfluidic water channel.
- ▪Researchers at the University of Sheffield and TU Dresden developed a 3D-printed soft brain implant prototype that combines neural recording, targeted focal cooling, and fluidic heat removal into a single continuous structure.
Drug-resistant epilepsy treatments
- ▪Approximately 30 percent of the estimated 50 million people with epilepsy globally—about 15 million individuals—have drug-resistant epilepsy that fails to respond to two anti-epileptic medications.
- ▪Surgical removal of a seizure focus offers potential seizure freedom, but many drug-resistant epilepsy patients are ineligible because their seizure foci are diffuse or located in critical brain regions.
- ▪The Food and Drug Administration approved the NeuroPace RNS System for responsive neurostimulation in 2013, which demonstrates a median 72 percent seizure reduction after seven years of clinical follow-up.
Direct ink writing fabrication
- ▪Direct ink writing enables sequential printing of graphite conductive traces directly into a medical-grade silicone matrix, reducing the mechanical stiffness gap with brain tissue to minimize chronic micromotion damage.
- ▪The University of Sheffield research team fabricated the soft brain cooling implant using direct ink writing with a RegenHU 3D Discovery bioprinter and DOWSIL SE1700 medical-grade silicone.
Deep brain stimulation settings
- ▪Food and Drug Administration-approved deep brain stimulation reduces seizures in drug-resistant epilepsy via implanted electrodes, but identifying effective stimulation settings currently requires months or years of clinical trial and error.
- ▪Mayo Clinic researchers compared conventional steady-beat deep brain stimulation with nonperiodic stimulation, observing distinct effects on neural communication between the thalamus and other brain regions.
Brain connectivity response measurement
- ▪Mayo Clinic researchers are investigating machine learning algorithms and noninvasive recording methods to interpret brain signals and predict long-term seizure reduction.
- ▪Mayo Clinic researchers measured changes in electrical communication between the thalamus and frontal lobe using intracranial electroencephalogram monitoring during deep brain stimulation.
- ▪A Mayo Clinic study published in iScience in 2026 detected measurable brain connectivity changes within 18 minutes of deep brain stimulation in nine adult patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy.
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