Developers: | Precisis |
Branches: | Pharmaceuticals, Medicine, Healthcare |
2022: Device Announcement
On September 23, 2022, the EASEE system entered the market, so named for the epicranial arrangement of electrodes for stimulating epilepsy. The device is developed by German company Precisis as a minimally invasive treatment for epilepsy, which can be implemented in the early stages as soon as numerous drugs do not help. The system has become available in European, and now the manufacturer wants permission to sell in the United States.
The EASEE technology, which its Heidelberg-based manufacturer called a "brain pacemaker," works by sending bioelectric pulses to stabilize the brain region associated with epileptic seizures. The device provides two types of stimulation, none of which is felt by the patient. High-frequency pulses, which arrive every two seconds to prevent approaching seizures, and longer phases, which are applied for 20 minutes a day to long-term regulation of brain function. The pulse rate and intensity in the device can be constantly adapted to the needs of each patient.
{{quote 'A low-risk implantation procedure and an outstanding positive spectrum of side effects suggest that EASEE will be a future therapeutic option for treatment of focal, non-treatable epilepsies, said the head of the epilepsy department at University Hospital Freiburg in Germany, who led the clinical studies of Andreas Schulze-Bonhage. }} The system consists of a pulse generator, which is implanted into the chest and connected by a cable to an electrode pad, which is placed under the scalp for neurostimulation therapy. Both implants are installed in minimally invasive surgeries, which can be performed one after the other as part of the same procedure and eliminate the need to drill the skull or physically interact with the brain.
In several clinical trials of the technology, about half of participants after six months of using the EASEE system had at least a 50% reduction in seizure rates and four patients had their seizures completely stopped. Almost all trial participants had at least some improvement in seizure rate - the mean reduction was 52%, and only 4 out of 31 patients had no benefit from the system. Precisis is also looking to expand the current indications for the system's application, with plans to begin investigating its effectiveness in children and adolescents in late 2022.[1]