Emory University School of Medicine, a national leader in epilepsy surgery and neurostimulation therapies, is partnering in a newly awarded $2.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support the development of a next-generation neurostimulation device aimed at preventing seizures in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy.
The three-year NIH-funded Research Demonstration and Dissemination Projects (R18) grant was awarded to principal investigator Hai Sun, MD, PhD, at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. The study brings together an interdisciplinary team from Rutgers, Emory, Stevens Institute of Technology and RWJBarnabas Health to design and test an innovative implantable system called the Epileptic-Network Closed-loop Stimulation Device (enCLS).
The R18 grant mechanism supports the development and early testing of new medical technologies that show promise for improving public health but are not yet ready for clinical trials in humans. In this case, the research will focus on building and validating a working prototype of the device to prepare for future testing in patients.
At Emory, Ezequiel Gleichgerrcht, MD, PhD, assistant professor of neurology and site principal investigator, leads the clinical arm of the study, including the human data modeling and clinical validation components of the project. As a high-volume epilepsy surgery center with more than 60 patients implanted with responsive neurostimulation—implanted devices that monitor and respond to abnormal brain activity in real time—Emory provides rich neuroimaging and large datasets of brain activity recordings to help refine and test the enCLS algorithms. Emory's participation will ensure the technology is both clinically viable and aligned with the real-world needs of patients and providers.
"Our goal is to stop seizures at their earliest stages, ideally before they have a chance to spread," says Gleichgerrcht. "By applying advanced brain network modeling to real-world patient data, we aim to translate this technology from animal models into a device that could transform care for people living with drug-resistant epilepsy."
"This type of epilepsy can have a devastating impact on quality of life, and current treatment options are limited. This study offers a unique opportunity to move the field forward and lay the groundwork for future technologies aimed at improving seizure control and quality of life," adds Gleichgerrcht.
Stevens Institute of Technology will lead the development of computer algorithms and modeling techniques for seizure detection and stimulation, while RWJBarnabas Health will support patient recruitment and clinical integration efforts in New Jersey. Together with Emory, the institutions bring expertise in neurology, neurosurgery, biomedical engineering and clinical care to accelerate the translation of this technology from research to real-world application.
