The world’s first procedure to treat chronic pain, which could help Parkinson’s sufferers, has been carried out on a 60-year-old man.
Doctors in Australia fitted a permanent spinal cord implant, which can record signals from the nervous system and adjust the strength of impulses sent to affected areas. Jaswir Grewal, the patient, has suffered chronic back pain for more than 30 years. He said that he felt a significant decrease in pain.
The device, developed by Saluda Medical, was fitted at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney on Tuesday. Dr Charles Brooker, who fitted the implant, said that the device sent signals to confuse the brain. He said that patients did not feel pain, “they just feel a pleasant tingling sensation”.
Claire Bale, head of research communications at Parkinson’s UK, said that the device could tackle the pain in Parkinson’s, but further research was needed.