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Not having control over your body’s movements can range from frustrating to frightening. For individuals with movement disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease, dystonia, and essential tremor, this is a daily reality. Imagine not being able to button your shirt or pour a glass of water because your hands are shaking, or being afraid to hold your grandchild because you might fall.
For patients with epilepsy, seizures are often unpredictable, limiting their ability to drive, live independently, and earn an income. Even with medication, they often experience symptoms and side effects that impact their quality of life.
Innovation That Transforms Lives
The Center for Neuromodulation is treating patients with previously untreatable conditions by correcting abnormal electrical activity in the brain. With support from philanthropy, Barrow has become a national leader in deep brain stimulation (DBS) and was the first medical facility in Arizona to treat essential tremor with focused ultrasound.
Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS)
How It Works: DBS works like a pacemaker for the brain, delivering electrical pulses to targeted areas of the brain to regulate abnormal signals.
What We Treat With It: Parkinson’s disease, dystonia, essential tremor, and epilepsy
Focused Ultrasound
How It Works: This incisionless procedure uses heat generated by sound waves to deactivate neuron circuits deep in the brain.
What We Treat With It: Essential tremor and Parkinson’s tremor
Your Generosity in Action: Bill Daggett’s Story
Bill had hoped to spend his life transforming juniper wood into art. But when his Parkinson’s symptoms progressed and he could no longer sculpt, Bill’s neurologist, Holly Shill, MD, FAAN, Director of the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center, refused to give up. Instead, she offered another solution—DBS with neurosurgeon Francisco Ponce, MD.
New Frontiers in Neuromodulation
Through the support of generous donors, the Center for Neuromodulation continues to conduct cutting-edge research and clinical trials, expanding the use of DBS in treating a wider range of neurological conditions. The team already has research studies on DBS for these conditions:
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Tinnitus
- Drug-resistant epilepsy
- Chronic pain
- Post-stroke symptoms
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)