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All-media reporter in the newspaper Wang Jie Guo Xuefeng
Implant chips in the brain to regulate depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder, use brain-computer interface technology to read brain electrical signals and accurately control limbs that have been paralyzed for many years to draw and play the piano...... Make up these pictures in your brain, does it feel like watching a science fiction movie? In fact, this is a relatively routine work in the daily diagnosis and treatment of neurosurgery in the Encephalopathy Hospital Affiliated to Zhengzhou University (the Second People's Hospital of Zhumadian City). The hospital is one of the few municipal hospitals in China that has a complete set of surgical stereotactic and surgical planning systems for the treatment of functional neurological diseases.
Recently, the reporter interviewed Lin Yaya, director of the neurosurgery department of the hospital. According to him, neurosurgery is the key development and cultivation department of the hospital, according to the specialty characteristics of the hospital's psychiatric diseases and encephalopathy hospitals, on the basis of carrying out routine neurosurgical diseases, the focus of the work is on the minimally invasive surgical treatment of some drug-refractory Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, alcohol dependence and other diseases. At present, the patient's ability to live has basically returned to normal through stereotactic minimally invasive surgical techniques.
According to Lin Yaya, with the breakthrough progress of science and technology in recent years, especially the iteration of new materials and artificial intelligence, some functional diseases such as drug-refractory Parkinson's, epilepsy, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, and alcohol dependence can be treated with minimally invasive surgery with the support of existing technology. The basic principle is that with the support of stereotactic technology, electrodes as thin as a hair are implanted into specific nerve nuclei, and the nerves are stimulated for a long time and continuously by a pulse generator (brain pacemaker) placed under the skin in the chest, and the nerve signaling circuit in the original pathological state is regulated, so as to achieve the purpose of treating the corresponding disease.
Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disease of the elderly, with a prevalence of 1%-2% in people over 60 years old, and most patients with Parkinson's disease need surgery due to the irresistible progression of the disease, poor drug treatment or unbearable complications due to long-term medication.
There was once a father of a rural doctor, because of Parkinson's disease caused by hand tremors, slow movement, start, difficulty in turning over, unable to take care of himself, taking a variety of anti-Parkinson's disease drugs for 5 years, to many hospitals for treatment, the effect is getting worse and worse, many times choose suicide, accidentally brushed Lin Yaya's Douyin, learned that Parkinson's disease can also be treated by surgery, so accompanied by his family to the city's Second People's Hospital Parkinson's disease outpatient consultation.
After a series of examinations and assessments, Lin Yaya diagnosed the old man as a typical Parkinson's disease, and his current condition and medication history are fully in line with the indications for surgery. After a fierce ideological struggle, the patient and his family were hospitalized, preoperative evaluation, and finally successfully completed the operation. The moment the pacemaker "turned on" after the operation, the symptoms of the elderly's hand tremor and sluggishness disappeared completely, and he moved freely.
Mental illnesses include common depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, alcohol dependence, etc., with a lifetime prevalence of about 16.6% in mainland China, which has become a major public health problem and a prominent social problem. For the treatment of mental illness, drug treatment is generally preferred, but statistics show that about 30% of mental illnesses do not respond well through medication, psychotherapy and conventional physical therapy, and become refractory mental illnesses. Many years ago, drug-refractory psychiatric disorders were a source of helplessness for many physicians, and today, there is growing evidence that surgery can be used as a last line of support for these patients to regain their physical ability to live and restore their neurological function. At present, special electrode chips for psychiatric surgery have been successfully developed in China, and many patients have returned to normal life with such special electrode chips.
A 50-year-old middle-aged woman, in her 20s, appeared to be afraid of dirty, frequent hand washing, closing the door and other behaviors, at first she was able to live a normal life, as the disease progressed, and finally developed to wash her hands most of the day, repeatedly open and close the door, and consume dozens of tons of water a month. After realizing that she was sick, she went to the hospital for examination and was diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder, taking a variety of drugs for a long time, the effect has not been ideal, she cannot take care of herself, and her family and patients are miserable. Knowing that the Second People's Hospital of the city can treat obsessive-compulsive disorder through minimally invasive surgery, after weighing the pros and cons, she decisively chose surgery, after the pacemaker "start-up" work, her sad face for many years bloomed like a flower, so that all the staff and family members who witnessed the "start-up" effect were in tears.
Lin Yaya said that for the development of medical technology, there will be a breakthrough and iteration in 5-10 years, and the technology of brain pacemaker has been developed in China for more than 30 years, which is relatively mature, before this technology is mainly used for the treatment of Parkinson's disease, essential tremor and other dystonic diseases, in the past 5 years, neuroimaging technology, artificial intelligence and other rapid development, especially in recent years, the restart of the "China Brain Project", through the brain pacemaker treatment of epilepsy, psychiatric diseases, high paraplegia, neuropathic pain, Alzheimer's disease, Coma and awakening have become a hot spot in neuroscience research, and its non-invasive, adjustable, and self-feedback advantages have become an indispensable means for human beings to treat various difficult diseases and benefit more patients.
"Science and technology change to live, and science and technology benefit mankind." Lin Yaya said that he and his team will continue to learn, forge ahead, and use the light of science and technology to do a good job of "top priority".