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Violinist has brain surgery, plays during surgery to fix tremors

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V

Volotaire

Member
When Roger Frisch noticed hand tremors back in 2009, it was no small deal -- as a professional violinist, steady hands are absolutely imperative to his work. With shaking hands, Frisch -- who had been a professional musician for 40 years -- could no longer draw the bow smoothly across the strings of his instrument. He was diagnosed with nervous disorder essential tremor.

The solution? Deep brain stimulation, to be administered by brain surgeons at the Mayo Clinic Neural Engineering Lab. This procedure involves the implantation of what is known as a brain pacemaker, which sends electrical impulses to specific parts of the brain -- it is used to treat such conditions as Parkinson's disease, major depression, Tourette syndrome, tremors, and chronic pain.

Although Frisch's tremors might be considered relatively minor, for a concert violinist they would have spelled the end of his career.

In order to find the brain region that was causing the tremors, the surgeons had to insert electrodes into his brain, stimulating various points. But, because the tremor was so mild, the surgeons would not have been able to tell if they were hitting the optimum spot -- unless, that is, Frisch was awake and helping.

It's actually par for the course for patients to be conscious during brain surgery so that doctors can monitor their condition, but Frisch's case required something new: for him to be playing the violin. The surgical team fitted bow with a three-axis accelerometer, which allowed the team to monitor Frisch's movements in real-time. When they inserted the electrodes into his brain, they were able to gauge whether or not the stimulation was affecting the tremors.

The surgery was effective -- Frisch was once again playing with the Minnesota Orchestra just three weeks later. He can turn the pacemaker on using a controller, allowing him to play just as smoothly as he could before the tremors. The video below was uploaded by the Mayo Clinic in April of this year.
Click to expand...

YouTube Video

CNET

Science Alert

EDIT: old
 
T

TheDrizzlerJ11

Member
So this guy had brain surgery because his hands shake? He got something that is sending signals to parts of the brain, that he doesn't control, because his hands shake? Or does this lead to bigger problems? I would've said fuck it and found something else.

I don't mean to be undermining this condition. But the description of that surgery is terrifying.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck that.
 
C

Capitan

Member
What if a brain surgeon has this condition? do they then have to perform brain surgery while brain surgery is performed upon them?

Seriously, though, this is really cool stuff.
 
B

Blargonaut

Banned
61142-Mmmmm-science-Pepsi-can-gif-cDA2.gif
 
T

Timedog

good credit (by proxy)
I'm gonna go burn my dick half off with a soldering iron that's how excited I am about SCIENCE! I'll prove that I like SCIENCE! more than anybody.
 
T

timetokill

Banned
Wow, that is pretty cool.

Every time I hear about these things though, I think about how scared I'd be to be awake during any kind of surgery, let alone BRAIN surgery.
 
Tarkus

Tarkus

Member
The is possible because there are no sensory nerve endings in the skull or the brain other than the soft tissues of the scalp. I'm almost positive that every deep brain stimulation surgery involves waking the patient and having them speak or sing (add play violin). It helps aid proper placement of the stimulator leads. Don't kid yourself though, the patient is still heavily sedated.
 
E

EB Guy

Burger King viral marketer
My mother has the same condition. Only her entire body shakes. She had the same surgery done. It's pretty cool.
 
M

Mabase

Member
EB Guy said:
My mother has the same condition. Only her entire body shakes. She had the same surgery done. It's pretty cool.
Click to expand...

Wow that's very cool. Does she also have a remote to turn it on/off? And does she have to do any maintenance on the pacemaker, I don't know, like recharge it or something?

Super interesting.
 
E

EB Guy

Burger King viral marketer
Mabase said:
Wow that's very cool. Does she also have a remote to turn it on/off? And does she have to do any maintenance on the pacemaker, I don't know, like recharge it or something?

Super interesting.
Click to expand...

Yes, she has to turn it off when sleeping. She just had the battery replaced recently. It does die after a while.
 
M

Mabase

Member
EB Guy said:
Yes, she has to turn it off when sleeping. She just had the battery replaced recently. It does die after a while.
Click to expand...

Cool, thanks. It's just amazing to think about the possibilities medical science has nowadays. Cheers to your mom then! :)
 
D

Dalek

Member
EB Guy said:
Yes, she has to turn it off when sleeping. She just had the battery replaced recently. It does die after a while.
Click to expand...

Wow, how does that work? Can she fall asleep if the body is experiencing tremors? Why can't she leave the pacemaker on while she sleeps?
 
E

EB Guy

Burger King viral marketer
Dalek said:
Wow, how does that work? Can she fall asleep if the body is experiencing tremors? Why can't she leave the pacemaker on while she sleeps?
Click to expand...
She can fall asleep with it off. I don't know the exact reason why other then her telling me it's dangerous to leave it on while sleeping.
 
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